ERIC Number: EJ1432476
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Jul
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0663
EISSN: EISSN-1939-2176
The Effects of Unstructured Out-of-School Engagement in Science on Adolescents' Vocational Interests, Occupational Aspirations, Competencies, School Grades, and Ability Self-Concepts
Journal of Educational Psychology, v116 n5 p742-761 2024
Unstructured out-of-school time (OST) science activities, such as reading a science book, watching a science television show, or researching on the internet about science, constitute a self-sustaining way for adolescents to engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Although it is suggested that long-term engagement in such activities could have a broad influence on several STEM-related constructs, so far little is known about the impact of unstructured OST science engagement. The current study therefore investigated the effects of unstructured OST science engagement on the development of vocational interests, occupational aspirations, competencies, school achievement, and ability self-concepts. For this purpose, we used a large longitudinal subsample (N = 2,655) from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS; Blossfeld & Roßbach, 2019) where students in Germany were assessed in Grades 9, 11, and 12. Following the recommendations of VanderWeele et al. (2020), we used an outcome-wide longitudinal design for causal inference: Outcome-wide effects of unstructured OST science activities were estimated while controlling for a set of joint confounders and pretest measures. Our findings show that unstructured OST science activities influence investigative vocational interests, but do not influence occupational aspirations, competencies, school grades, and ability self-concepts. The results suggest that adolescents with similar initial interest trait levels who engage in unstructured OST science activities develop a stronger interest toward STEM, compared to adolescents who do not engage in such activities.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, High School Students, Grade 11, Grade 12, Science Activities, Student Interests, STEM Careers, Recreational Activities, Occupational Aspiration, Vocational Interests, Competence, Self Concept, Science Interests
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education; Grade 11; Grade 12
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Germany
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.5157/NEPS:SC3:12.0.0