Peer reviewed
Direct linkERIC Number: EJ1211584
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Apr
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0251-2513
EISSN: N/A
Fitting the STEM Interests of Middle School Children into the RIASEC Structural Space
Babarovic, Toni; Devic, Ivan; Burušic, Josip
International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, v19 n1 p111-128 Apr 2019
This paper aims to explore middle school children's interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the context of Holland's model of vocational interests. The participants comprised 627 students aged 13 years, equally distributed by gender. The results showed that boys expressed stronger STEM interests than girls, with the most pronounced differences in engineering and technology. Most STEM interests fit along the People-Things dimension, while interest in science inclined toward the Ideas pole. We suggest that career counselors assess different STEM interests individually and invest efforts in retaining girls in STEM fields by providing gender-responsive career guidance.
Descriptors: STEM Education, Student Interests, Middle School Students, Science Interests, Vocational Interests, Adolescents, Gender Differences, Engineering Education, Technology Education, Career Counseling, Career Guidance
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
