Adolescents' motivation to select an academic science-related career: the role of school factors, individual interest, and science self-concept

Abstract

Many researchers consider a lacking interest in science and the students' belief that science is too demanding as major reasons why young people do not strive for science-related careers. In this article, we first delineated a theoretical framework to investigate the importance of interest, self-concept, and school factors regarding students' career preferences. Then, we tested the expected effects on a sample of German 9th-grade students (N = 7,813). We focused on two school factors: the amount of (additional) science activities and the real-life applications in science classes. The multi-level analysis showed that school factors were highly relevant for the students' interest in science and science self-concept. In turn, interest in science and science self-concept affect the students' interest in science-related careers. We conclude that focusing on the link between individual and school characteristics is important for the understanding of students' interest in science-related careers.

Keywords:

• STEM careers
• secondary school
• career choice
• Germany
• science

Notes on contributors

Päivi H. Taskinen currently works as a scientific staff member at the Chair of Pedagogical Psychology at the Institute of Educational Science, University of Jena. Her research interests include the psychology of choosing careers in STEM, social disruptive behaviour in the school context, and the impact of parents on educational processes. She is currently carrying out an evaluation of an intervention programme aiming to promote science learning in kindergarten. Her teaching role at the university involves the training of novice teachers in their practical courses.

Kerstin Schütte is a postdoctoral researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at Kiel University. Her research interests include the relations between students' self-concepts and their attitudes toward academic domains and toward school, motivation's effect on academic achievement, and the psychology of choosing careers in STEM. She is currently involved in evaluating an intervention programme aiming to promote students' interest in science and technology.

Manfred Prenzel holds the Susanne Klatten Endowed Chair of Empirical Education Research at the TUM School of Education, Technische Universität München. He is President of the Centre for International Student Assessment (ZIB) and Dean of the TUM School of Education. His research interests deal with issues of learning and teaching in domains like mathematics and science, with large-scale assessment, professional development in education, and with learning outside of school. His recent scientific projects include the National Project Management for the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2012 and 2015) in Germany.

Notes

1. The effects were equally strong on the within level (β = .21 and β = .24, ps < .001), but the between-level variable (the actual teaching style) was conceptually more important than the within-level variable (individual's perception of the teaching style). From a statistical point of view, contextual variables measured on the within level also have to be included on the within level, even if the effects on the between level are the only matter of interest.