This mixed-methods case study examines parental motivation for participation in a Canadian university-based STEM outreach event. Parents responded to a post-event questionnaire that was followed by individual interviews. The quantitative part revealed how and why parents engaged with their children's STEM education. Surprisingly, neither…

The mixed methods study aimed to measure the impact professional development programs have on STEM professionals' job satisfaction and organizational commitment, specifically, through the level of participation in the professional development program, and employees' perceived effectiveness of said professional development program. Four research…

There are many things that can influence a child's career path. Parents and teachers are first to come to mind. But simple exposure to a certain career may also influence a child's choice of a career. There is always a need for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) jobs. We look at elementary students who have attended an expo designed…

A major debate is currently underway in the USA about whether there is, in fact, a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce shortage in the country or not. This is the subject of the "Bayer Facts of Science Education XVI: US STEM Workforce Shortage--Myth or Reality? Fortune 1000 Talent Recruiters on the Debate."…

In this study, Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) is used to explore changes in the career intentions of students in an undergraduate research experience (URE) program at a large public minority-serving college. Our URE model addresses the challenges of establishing an undergraduate research program within an urban, commuter, underfunded,…

Gaps between science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and required workplace skills have been identified in industry, academia, and government. Educators acknowledge the need to reform STEM education to better prepare students for their future careers. We pursue this growing interest in the skills needed for STEM…

The authors describe successful STEM teacher recruiting and training practices developed through the Talented Teachers in Training for Texas (T4) program. They discuss implementing three distinctive recruiting experiences--a STEM Master Teacher Job Shadow, a STEM Day, and a NASA Aerospace Teachers Program--along with a multiyear scholarship and…

Background: Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) jobs are expected to make up a significant portion of the U.S. workforce. Unfortunately, the trend in retaining students in STEM majors has been going down. If higher education institutions are going to retain more students in STEM majors, it will be important to understand who leaves…

Background: There is a need to arm students with noncognitive, or 21st Century, skills to prepare them for a more STEM-based job market. As STEM schools are created in a response to this call to action, research is needed to better understand how exemplary STEM schools successfully accomplish this goal. This conversion mixed method study analyzed…

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) are at the forefront of conversations in education, not only in Indiana, but across the country. This conversation is crossing boundaries from primary and secondary education, to academia, to government agencies, to industry. The inherent focus on STEM comes from an understanding of the impending…

Teachers' job satisfaction and teacher self-efficacy in teaching are two of the main factors driving STEM teacher shortages in teaching students who are English Learners (ELs). This study investigated the impact of teachers' perceptions of school climate and professional development (PD) participation on teacher self-efficacy in teaching and job…

Taking advanced high school courses predicts such postsecondary outcomes as enrolling in college, persisting in college courses, and completing a degree. In Texas, where Hispanic students make up 51 percent of the student population, their access to and enrollment in advanced courses is an ongoing concern despite recent gains. In particular,…

Each January from 2010 to 2014, an undergraduate workshop on modeling biological systems was held at Lehman College of the City University of New York. The workshops were funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Expedition in Computing, "Computational Modeling and Analysis of Complex Systems (CMACS)." The primary goal was to…

STEM education has received significant attention in the USA and is largely fueled by rhetoric suggesting the USA is losing its global competitive edge and that there is a lack of qualified workers available to fill growing STEM jobs. However, a counter discourse is emerging that questions the legitimacy of these claims. In response, we employed…

The science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce is crucial to America's innovative capacity and global competitiveness. Yet women are vastly underrepresented in STEM jobs and among STEM degree holders despite making up nearly half of the U.S. workforce and half of the college-educated workforce. That leaves an untapped opportunity…