Today, it is of great importance to establish a workforce with knowledge and skills in fields such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics and education in order to reach the level of developed society. STEM, as an integrated educational approach, is known as one of the effective methods in teaching such knowledge and skills. However, the…

This study investigated middle school students' interests and perceptions of the importance of developing their knowledge and skills in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In addition, the study also investigated the effect of gender on students' interests and perceptions. One hundred…

Building on theories of gender schema and socialization, as well as recent empirical research in economics, in this paper we investigate whether and how gender differences in preference for competition help to explain the gap in expectations of majoring in different STEM fields. Utilizing data from a sample of high school students, we find that…

To address high STEM college attrition rates, it is critical to understand what motivates undergraduates' pursuit of STEM. The current study investigated the association of a diverse socio-demographic background with different types of perceived chemistry career affordances (prosocial, other communal, and agentic) and their association with…

Decades of research on engagement, retention, and under-representation in STEM conclude that a better understanding of learner development as a long-term, social process is needed. Social identity theory is increasingly used to understand the interplay between individual development and social structure. The present report summarises findings from…

Despite the technological development, the digital era, and the fact that Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) permeates all the modern world, the number of students choosing to pursue a career in STEM areas is very small in comparison to other careers. In particular, considering the gender, the gap increases even more. In this…

This study explored the impact of attending an Inclusive STEM-focused High School (ISHS) by interviewing 30 students from ISHSs and matched comparison high schools 2 years after graduation. Interviewees were students who in 12th grade reported being first-generation college goers, strongly interest in a STEM career, and planning to go directly to…

This keynote address was delivered by Dr. Cary A. Supalo at the 2015 Training Workforce and Development and diversity conference which is one of the divisions that is part of NIH's general medical sciences. This conference was attended by over 500 program directors from all of the T32 sponsored projects in 2015. This presentation discussed the…

STEM competitions are fairly widespread in middle schools and high schools, but do not commonly occur at the university level. We have developed a repeatable model for a one-day competition in which high school, community college and university students can build confidence in their own critical thinking abilities and develop enthusiasm for…

The study examined the impact of STEM education workshops on changes in student's self-reported academic and professional identity. [Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Northern Rocky Mountain Educational Research Association (NRMERA) (34th, 2016).]

Young women benefited from a network of "social cohesion and peer support," a form of social capital, which emerged from participation in a well-known high school robotics program. This factor was part of a larger grounded theory qualitative study using a foundation in career theories that explored the influences of the robotics program…

This study's purpose was to understand STEM education in inclusive STEM high schools (ISHSs) and traditional comprehensive high schools through" Day in the Life" narratives of four African American or Latino high school students. Researchers shadowed focal students in matched pairs of schools, and analyzed student, parent and educator…

In this study, we surveyed 570 Calculus I and Calculus II students at two large public universities in the Northeastern region of the United States. We explored the relationship between these students' career goals in mathematics and other STEM fields, with their mathematics identity and self-identified personality attributes. Our findings suggest…

Currently, there is a shortage of Americans entering STEM careers. Furthermore, women remain underrepresented in these fields. In this paper I discuss the career decisions of three undergraduate women mathematics majors who, during their undergraduate years, expressed an interest in obtaining a career in mathematics but lacked substantial…

A substantial percentage of college students who enrol in Calculus I intending to take more calculus decide at the end of the semester not to continue with calculus. This represents a huge loss in terms of the need for more students to pursue a major in one of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. In this report…