Finnish parents’ science capital and its association with sociodemographic issues

Figures & data

Table 1. Sample description.

Age	Counts	% of Total	Degree	Counts	% of Total
Under 35	101	13.6%	PhD or licentiate	91	12.3%
35–45	462	62.4%	Academic degree	514	69.5%
46–55	159	21.5%	Vocational degree	90	12.2%
Over 56	15	2.1%	No degree	44	5.9%
N/A	3	0.4%	N/A	1	0.1%
Profession	Counts	% of Total	Language	Counts	% of Total
Work in science-related field	156	21.5%	Finnish	682	92.8%
Study for an academic degree	81	11.2%	Swedish	23	3.1%
Work in science-related field and study for an academic degree	28	3.9%	Russian	4	0.5%
Neither	461	63.5%	Other	26	3.5%
Gender	Counts	% of Total	Residential area	Counts	% of Total
Female	573	78.0%	South Finland	380	51.5%
Male	133	18.1%	West Finland	94	12.7%
Other	7	1.0%	North Finland	33	4.5%
Rather not say	22	3.0%	Mid Finland	76	10.3%
			East Finland	150	20.3%
			N/A	5	0.7%

Table 2. Exploratory factor analysis of core dimensions of science capital (N = 740).

Item	Factor loadings
	Factor
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
I read scientific publications	0.740
I look for scientific information on the Internet (e.g. YouTube, science websites)	0.718
I read science books and/or journals	0.671
I look at something related to science on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok)	0.566
We do arts and crafts together		0.773
We fix or build things together		0.770
We go for walks in nature, parks or garden		0.567
We conduct science experiments or use scientific test sets (e.g. crystal growing, magic dough, chemical tests, microscope)		0.492
My child likes participating in camps and excursions			0.770
My child likes participating in clubs in different fields			0.678
My child likes participating in scouting			0.605
My child likes watching scientific shows and listening to them			0.504
It is important that young people understand science				0.736
Young people’s interest in science is essential for the future				0.655
It is important to study science, even if you don’t want to work in science				0.589
The scientific information that I learned at school has been useful in my daily life				0.477
I have encouraged my child/children to continue exploring science in the future					0.821
I have explained to my child/children that science is useful in their future					0.656
My child/children know(s) a lot about science					0.570
I visit museums with my children						0.873
I visit art exhibitions with my children						0.654
I visit science centres with my children						0.453
People like me work in scientific fields							0.606
People often perceive me as a researcher							0.435
I am aware of professions in different disciplines							0.368

Table 3. Confirmatory factor analysis model estimates.

Factor	Item	Estimate	SE	Z	p	Stand. Estimate
Factor 1	I read scientific publications	0.857	0.0440	19.5	<.001	0.718
	I look for scientific information on the Internet (e.g. YouTube, science websites)	0.785	0.0437	18.0	<.001	0.668
	I read science books and/or journals	0.940	0.0437	21.5	<.001	0.786
Factor 2	We do arts and crafts together	0.869	0.0436	19.9	<.001	0.727
	We fix or build things together	0.949	0.0439	21.6	<.001	0.779
	We go for walks in nature, parks or garden	0.513	0.0332	15.4	<.001	0.586
	We conduct science experiments or use scientific test sets (e.g. crystal growing, magic dough, chemical tests, microscope)	0.788	0.0494	16.0	<.001	0.589
Factor 3	My child likes participating in camps and excursions	0.717	0.0363	19.7	<.001	0.744
	My child likes participating in clubs in different fields	0.643	0.0338	19.0	<.001	0.718
	My child likes participating in scouting	0.615	0.0415	14.8	<.001	0.572
	My child likes watching scientific shows and listening to them	0.467	0.0333	14.0	<.001	0.534
Factor 4	It is important that young people understand science	0.370	0.0200	18.5	<.001	0.727
	Young people’s interest in science is essential for the future	0.417	0.0227	18.4	<.001	0.710
	It is important to study science, even if you don’t want to work in science	0.431	0.0327	13.2	<.001	0.557
	The scientific information that I learned at school has been useful in my daily life	0.439	0.0314	14.0	<.001	0.553
Factor 5	I have encouraged my child/children to continue exploring science in the future	0.772	0.0341	22.7	<.001	0.835
	I have explained my child/children that science is useful in their future	0.740	0.0370	20.0	<.001	0.739
	My child/children know a lot about science	0.504	0.0362	13.9	<.001	0.519
Factor 6	I visit museums with my children	0.512	0.0358	14.3	<.001	0.896
	I visit art exhibitions with my children	0.412	0.0329	12.5	<.001	0.642
Factor 7	People like me work in scientific fields	0.639	0.0475	13.5	<.001	0.611
	I am aware of professions in different disciplines	0.621	0.0450	13.8	<.001	0.638

Table 4. Descriptive statistics for the items included in the final model.

Form of capital	Dimension	Item	N	M	SD	Min	Max
Cultural capital	The valuing of science in society  (factor 4)	It is important that young people understand science	739	4.73	.51	1	5
		Young people’s interest in science is essential for the future	740	4.65	.59	1	5
		It is important to study science, even if you don’t want to work in science	740	4.38	.78	1	5
		The scientific information that I learned at school has been useful in my daily life	740	4.33	.80	1	5
Behaviour and practices	Use of science media  (factor 1)	I read scientific publications	736	2.24	1.20	1	5
		I look for scientific information on the Internet (e.g. YouTube, science websites)	734	2.76	1.18	1	5
		I read science books and/or journals	737	2.48	1.20	1	5
	Informal science learning  (factor 6)	I visit museums with my children*	739	1.71	.57	1	3
		I visit art exhibitions with my children*	737	2.02	.64	1	3
	Community spaces  (factor 3)	My child likes participating in camps and excursions**	730	2.15	.96	1	4
		My child likes participating in clubs in different fields**	728	2.32	.90	1	4
		My child likes participating in scouting**	703	2.96	1.08	1	4
		My child likes watching scientific shows and listening to them**	727	2.34	.89	1	4
	Everyday context  (factor 2)	We do arts and crafts together	735	4.52	1.20	1	6
		We fix or build things together	734	4.25	1.22	1	6
		We go for walks in nature, parks or garden	732	5.24	.88	1	6
		We conduct science experiments or use scientific test sets (e.g. crystal growing, magic dough, chemical tests, microscope)	734	3.20	1.34	1	6
Social capital	Future science affinity  (factor 5)	I have encouraged my child/children to continue exploring science in the future	735	3.85	0.93	1	5
		I have explained my child/children that science is useful in their future	732	3.97	1.00	1	5
		My child/children know a lot about science	733	3.36	1.00	1	5
	Science identity  (factor 7)	People like me work in scientific fields	734	3.55	1.05	1	5
		I am aware of professions in different disciplines	738	3.84	0.974	1	5

*1 = regularly – 3 = never. **1 = very much – 4 = very little.

Table 5. Differences between sociodemographic variables and cultural capital.

Form of capital	Dimension	Group	F	p	η²p
Cultural capital	The valuing of science in society	Educational degree	13.1	<.001	.051*
		Profession	1.74	0.158	.007
		Age	0.497	0.778	.003
		Residential area	5.70	<.001	.037*

*small effect, **moderate effect, ***large effect 

Table 6. Differences between sociodemographic variables and behaviour and practices.

Form of capital	Dimension	Group	F	p	η²p
Behaviour and practices	Use of science media	Educational degree	33.5	<.001	.120**
		Profession	58.3	<.001	.195***
		Age	0.754	0.583	.005
		Residential area	5.89	<.001	.039*
	Informal science learning	Educational degree	13.0	<.001	.051*
		Profession	5.23	0.001	.021*
		Age	5.07	<.001	.033*
		Residential area	13.1	<.001	.082**
	Community spaces	Educational degree	1.77	0.151	.007
		Profession	2.10	0.099	.009
		Age	3.24	0.007	.022*
		Residential area	2.82	0.016	.019*
	Everyday context	Educational degree	1.21	0.307	.005
		Profession	1.23	0.298	.005
		Age	6.08	<.001	.040*
		Residential area	0.731	0.600	.005

*small effect, **moderate effect, ***large effect  

Table 7. Differences between sociodemographic variables and social capital.

Form of capital	Dimension	Group	F	p	η²p
Social capital	Future science affinity	Educational degree	10.5	<.001	.041*
		Profession	8.03	<.001	.032*
		Age	1.83	0.106	.012*
		Residential area	3.43	0.005	.023*
	Science identity	Educational degree	36.9	<.001	.131**
		Profession	14.8	<.001	.058**
		Age	2.91	0.013	.019*
		Residential area	6.62	<.001	.043*

*small effect, **moderate effect, ***large effect

Table 8. Summary of the core dimensions and sociodemographic issues.

Form of capital	Dimensions	Sociodemographic issues
Cultural capital	Scientific related dispositions	Parents with higher educational degree show higher level of valuing science in society. Parents’ profession and age are not associated with valuing science in society.
Behaviour and practices	Consumption of science-related media	Parents with higher educational degree use more science-related media than parents with lower educational degree. Parents working in the science field or studying science use more science media than parents not working in science.
	Informal science learning Community spaces	Families’ residential area is one predictor of access to informal science learning. Parents’ age indicates that older parents use informal science learning places more often compared to younger parents, whereas younger parents’ do science activities with their children more often.
	Everyday context	Educational degree, profession or residential area does not affect Finnish parents’ engagement in everyday science activities with their children.
Social capital	Future science affinity	Parents’ educational degree, profession and residential area have small effects on social capital dimension. Parents’ age is not associated with future science affinity.
	Science identity	Parents with higher educational degrees and science-related professions show higher levels of science identity.