ERIC Number: EJ1235142
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0950-0693
EISSN: N/A
Is It All about Early Occupational Expectations? How the Gender Gap in Two Science Domains Reproduces Itself at Subsequent Stages of Education: Evidence from Longitudinal PISA in Australia
Sikora, Joanna
International Journal of Science Education, v41 n16 p2347-2368 2019
Although the gender gap in non-compulsory science attracts much attention, few studies compare factors that shape it at subsequent life stages. Here, a life-course approach is used to examine the gender gap in science career expectations at ages 16, 23 and 26 for a recent student cohort. Then, a decomposition is applied to assess what share of the gender gap in Year 12 science, university science and post-university employment depends on earlier expectations to pursue a science career. The data, collected between 2006 and 2016, come from the population-representative Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth, initiated with the Australian sample of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Pathways into two science domains are contrasted. The first is biological and health sciences (BAH), the second entails computing, engineering, physics and mathematical sciences (CEM). The gender gap in occupational plans to work in science is widest in adolescence before stabilising in young adulthood. Yet, adolescence is also a life stage at which science is most popular as a potential career. Prior to university entry, up to one third of the gender gap in science can be attributed to individual motivation or characteristics. What can be explained, depends predominantly on occupational goals.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Gender Differences, Occupational Aspiration, Science Careers, Longitudinal Studies, Surveys, Secondary School Students, College Students, Age Differences, Adolescents, Young Adults, Student Motivation, Expectation, Predictor Variables, Achievement Tests, International Assessment
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth; Program for International Student Assessment
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A