Utility-Value Intervention with Parents Increases Students' STEM Preparation and Career Pursuit
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| Title: | Utility-Value Intervention with Parents Increases Students' STEM Preparation and Career Pursuit |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Rozek, Christopher S., Svoboda, Ryan C., Harackiewicz, Judith M., Hulleman, Christopher S., Hyde, Janet S. |
| Source: | Grantee Submission. 2017. |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 6 |
| Publication Date: | 2017 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | National Science Foundation (NSF) Institute of Education Sciences (ED) |
| Contract Number: | 0814750 R305B090009 144NL14 R305B140042 |
| Document Type: | Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | High Schools Secondary Education Higher Education Postsecondary Education Adult Education |
| Descriptors: | STEM Education, Career Readiness, College Readiness, High School Students, Parent Role, Intervention, Course Selection (Students), Career Choice, Student Attitudes, Program Effectiveness, Structural Equation Models, Correlation, Hypothesis Testing, Scores, College Entrance Examinations, Student Records, Control Groups, Experimental Groups, Parent Influence, Parent Education, Longitudinal Studies |
| Geographic Terms: | Wisconsin |
| Assessment and Survey Identifiers: | ACT Assessment |
| DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.1607386114 |
| Abstract: | During high school, developing competence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is critically important as preparation to pursue STEM careers, yet students in the United States lag behind other countries, ranking 35th in mathematics and 27th in science achievement internationally. Given the importance of STEM careers as drivers of modern economies, this deficiency in preparation for STEM careers threatens the United States' continued economic progress. In the present study, we evaluated the long-term effects of a theory-based intervention designed to help parents convey the importance of mathematics and science courses to their high-school-aged children. A prior report on this intervention showed that it promoted STEM course-taking in high school; in the current follow-up study, we found that the intervention improved mathematics and science standardized test scores on a college preparatory examination (ACT) for adolescents by 12 percentile points. Greater high-school STEM preparation (STEM course-taking and ACT scores) was associated with increased STEM career pursuit (i.e., STEM career interest, the number of college STEM courses, and students' attitudes toward STEM) 5 y after the intervention. These results suggest that the intervention can affect STEM career pursuit indirectly by increasing high-school STEM preparation. This finding underscores the importance of targeting high-school STEM preparation to increase STEM career pursuit. Overall, these findings demonstrate that a motivational intervention with parents can have important effects on STEM preparation in high school, as well as downstream effects on STEM career pursuit 5 y later. [At time of submission to ERIC this article was in press with "PNAS."] |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Number of References: | 48 |
| IES Funded: | Yes |
| Entry Date: | 2017 |
| Accession Number: | ED578858 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | During high school, developing competence in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is critically important as preparation to pursue STEM careers, yet students in the United States lag behind other countries, ranking 35th in mathematics and 27th in science achievement internationally. Given the importance of STEM careers as drivers of modern economies, this deficiency in preparation for STEM careers threatens the United States' continued economic progress. In the present study, we evaluated the long-term effects of a theory-based intervention designed to help parents convey the importance of mathematics and science courses to their high-school-aged children. A prior report on this intervention showed that it promoted STEM course-taking in high school; in the current follow-up study, we found that the intervention improved mathematics and science standardized test scores on a college preparatory examination (ACT) for adolescents by 12 percentile points. Greater high-school STEM preparation (STEM course-taking and ACT scores) was associated with increased STEM career pursuit (i.e., STEM career interest, the number of college STEM courses, and students' attitudes toward STEM) 5 y after the intervention. These results suggest that the intervention can affect STEM career pursuit indirectly by increasing high-school STEM preparation. This finding underscores the importance of targeting high-school STEM preparation to increase STEM career pursuit. Overall, these findings demonstrate that a motivational intervention with parents can have important effects on STEM preparation in high school, as well as downstream effects on STEM career pursuit 5 y later. [At time of submission to ERIC this article was in press with "PNAS."] |
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| DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.1607386114 |
