Appraising Science Career Interests in Adolescent Girls and Boys

Abstract

Science career choice is partly determined by precursors such as enrollment in science and mathematics courses, which are, in turn, determined by factors such as attitudes toward science, participation in science activities, and science career preference. Participants were 1,501 students, Grades 4 through 10, from a large, national intervention study. Independent variables were gender and grade. Dependent variables measured attitude, activities, and career preference. Multivariate, univariate, and discriminant analysis and chi-square tests of association were used. Girls were less likely than boys to see science as a male activity or to believe they had not received serious attention from their science teachers. In contrast, girls were less likely than boys to see science as a fun puzzle to be solved. On three out of four measures of interest in Realistic and Investigative careers (Holland, 1997), girls showed less interest than boys. There were no gender differences for science activities and no gender-by-grade interaction effects. Results confirm the complex nature of attraction to a career in science and shed some light on differences between boys and girls in the understructure of science career interest.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bazler, J.A. , Spokane, A.R. , Ballard, R. , & Fugate, M. (1993). The JASON Project experience and attitudes toward science as an enterprise and career. Journal of Career Development , 20, 101-112.

Betz, N.E. (1990). What stops women and minorities from choosing and completing majors in science and engineering? Washington, DC: Federation of Behavioral, Psychological and Cognitive Sciences.

Campbell, D.T. , & Stanley, J.C. (1963). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Boston: Houghton Mifflin .

Collier, C.M. , & Spokane, A.R. (1994). The JASON Project evaluation study: Methodology . Science Model Area Resource Team (SMART) Center, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA.

Erb, T.O. (1983). Career preference of early adolescents: Age and sex differences. Journal of Early Adolescence, 3, 349-359.

Fennema, E. , & Sherman, J.A. (1986). Fennema and Sherman Mathematics Scales: Instruments designed to measure attitudes toward the learning of mathematics by females and males. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Center for Education Research, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison .

Gerstein, M. , Lichtman, M. , & Barokas, J. (1988). Occupational plans of adolescent women compared to men: A cross-sectional examination. Career Development Quarterly, 36, 222-230.

Hansen, J.C. , & Campbell, D.P. (1985). Manual for the Strong Interest Inventory (4th ed.). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.

Harvey, J. , & Goldstein, S. (1985). Sex differences in science and mathematics for more able pupils. Gifted Education International, 3, 133-136.

10.

Hofstein, A. , Maoz, N. , & Rishpon, M. (1990). Attitudes towards school science: A comparison of participants and nonparticipants in extra-curricular science activities . School Science and Mathematics, 90(1), 13-22.

11.

Holland, J.L. (1990). The Occupations Finder. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

12.

Holland, J.L. (1997). Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational personalities and work environments (3rd ed.). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

13.

Jacobson, W.J. , & Doran, R.L. (1986). What do our ninth graders think of science and school? The Science Teacher, 53, 59-61.

14.

Maoldomhnaigh, M.O. , & Mhaolain, V.N. (1990). The perceived expectation of the administrator as a factor affecting the sex of scientists drawn by early adolescent girls. Research in Science and Technological Education, 8, 69-74.

15.

Mullis, I.V.S. , & Jenkins, L.B. (1988). The science report card, elements of risk and recovery: Trends and achievement based on the 1986 national assessment. Princeton: Educational Testing Service .

16.

National Science Foundation (1988). Women and minorities in science and engineering. Washington, DC: Author.

17.

Osgood, C.E. , Suci, G.J. , & Tannenbaum, P.H. (1957). The measurement of meaning . Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

18.

Schulenberg, J. , Goldstein, A.E. , & Vondracek, F.W. (1991). Gender differences in adolescents' career interests: Beyond main effects. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 1, 37-61.

19.

Spokane, A.R. , & Collier, C.M. (1993). A six-item scale to measure Holland occupational type. Unpublished instrument, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA.

20.

Taber, K.S. (1991). Gender differences in science preferences on starting secondary school. Research in Science and Technological Education , 9, 245-251.

21.

Trammel, R.L. , Sidlik, L.P. , Piburn, M.D. , Baker, D.R. , & Leary, R. (1992, March). Students' attitudes toward science: Implications for career development. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Counseling and Development , Baltimore, MD.

22.

Welborn, T. , & McKenzie, D.L. (1989). Science achievement, attitudes and career selection of females: A review of research. The Journal of Elementary Science Education, 1, 3-9.

23.

White, M.J. , Kruczek, T.A. , Brown, M.T. , & White, G.B. (1989). Occupational sex stereotypes among college students . Journal of Vocational Behavior, 34, 289-298.

24.

Zerega, M.E. , Haertel, G.D. , Tsai, S. , & Walberg, H.J. (1986). Late adolescent sex differences in science learning . Science Education, 70, 447-460.