Factors influencing interest in STEM careers: An exploratory factor analysis

Theories and Models of Interest in STEM Careers

Several theories and models can be used as a basis for identifying the factors that influence interest in STEM careers. Related theories are the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), Holland's theory of career choice, and Super's Career Development Theory. The SCCT was developed by Lent et al. (1994; 2000) based on the social cognitive theory proposed by Bandura in 1977. The SCCT claims that aspirations and career choices are a result of personal factors which involve the environment and behavior (Maltese & Tai, 2011). This theory is in common with the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 2005) where both theories investigate self-efficacy and social influences as the effects of the action (Sahin et al., 2015). This theory has been used in previous studies to examine the factors that affect interest in STEM careers (Kier et al., 2014; Nugent et al., 2015; Sahin et al., 2015).

Holland's theory claims that career choice is compatible with personality type. Holland categorized a person's personality into six traits, namely being realistic or aggressive, investigative or intellectual, artistic or imaginative, social or extrovert and enterprising or conventional. Based on the six traits, realistic and investigative features are the most relevant to STEM careers. Research by Chen and Simpson (2015) found that individuals with an investigative personality tend to choose STEM majors.

Super's theory uses a process approach that develops across the lifespan of an individual. In Super's theory, there are several stages of career development, namely growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance and decline. The growth stage explains the formation of self-concept by identifying the significant people in the individual's family and school from which the individuals gain exposure to occupations. At this stage, individuals will highlight their interests and abilities by engaging themselves in social activities at school or at home. Super's theory divided this stage into three parts: i. Fantasy (ages 4 to 10); ii. Interest (ages 11 to 12); and iii. Abilities (ages 13 to 14). The exploration stage is the stage where the individuals are in the age range of 15 to 24. At this stage, Super's theory is divided into three parts: i. Not fixed (ages 15 to 17); ii. Transition (ages 18 to 21); and iii. Trial (ages 22 to 24). Based on the theory, individuals between the ages of 14 to 17 tend to continuously explore their career interest which is not fixed. Thus, intervention and a supportive environment are very important in developing interests and abilities of students in STEM careers at this stage.

Based on the previous theories and models of interest in STEM careers, this study adapted the SCCT theory as the main theory and supported it with other theories, as mentioned previously. Based on career trajectory theories, it appears that there are four crucial factors affecting STEM careers, i.e. environmental factors, STEM self-efficacy, perception of STEM careers and interest in STEM careers. The following subtopics elaborate on the sub factors involved in each of the four main factors identified through the literature review.

Environmental Factors Affecting Interest in STEM Careers

Studies have shown that there are four environmental factors affecting interest in STEM careers. These environmental factors are activities in the classroom, activities outside the classroom, social influences, and media influences.

Activities in the Classroom

Students who are exposed to school environment and curriculum that support active involvement in scientific activities or STEM engender aspirations and interest in related STEM careers (Acher et al., 2013; Jacobs et al., 1998). Therefore, in the school environment, teaching and learning strategies are essential in developing the skills needed in jobs related to STEM fields. Based on previous studies, teaching and learning strategies that can improve skills in the STEM fields are problem solving strategies, hands-on activities, science content associated with everyday life applications, cooperative learning, investigative activities, group work and active learning (Buschor et al., 2014; Sahin et al., 2015).

Activities Outside the Classroom

Informal STEM education acts as a complement to formal education in attracting students to participate in STEM fields. Previous studies have shown the positive effects on students engaged in informal STEM activities in terms of knowledge, attitude and interest in STEM and the desire to engage in STEM careers. Among the activities outside the classroom that were carried out are science field work, science camps, learning in science centers, museums, zoos, robotics competitions, clubs related to STEM activities, and interviews with scientists (Archer et al., 2013; Ayar, 2015; Gwen et al., 2016 ; Mills & Katzman, 2015; National Governors Association, 2016; Sahin et al., 2015).

Based on studies conducted by Denson et al. (2015), the benefits of informal STEM include getting informal mentoring, learning in a fun way, applying mathematics and science simultaneously, building participants' confidence in the necessary STEM skills, and fostering camaraderie among the participants. These skills are indispensable and important for nurturing a competent workforce in the field of STEM in the future.

Social Influences

Social influence is the influence of the person closest to the student such as the influence of parents, family members, teachers, friends, counselors, role models and local communities. Buday et al. (2012) found that social support is related to the choice of a career and contributes to a positive perception of the career.

In line with Bandura's (1977) social cognitive theory, parents, teachers, and friends not only play a role in deciding the choice of a career, but also play an important role in the development of self-efficacy. This is confirmed by previous studies which found that students' self-efficacy or the students' belief in their own ability in the STEM subject increased when parents, teachers and friends stressed the value and importance of STEM skills (Nugent et al., 2015; Rice et al., 2013).

Among the types of social influences, previous studies have indicated that parents are the most influential on students in STEM-related career decision-making (Nugent et al., 2015; Sahin et al., 2015; White & Harrison, 2012). Parents who manage to influence their children in a profession have enough information to pass on to their children in order to help in the process of career selection (Hall et al., 2011).

Cridge and Cridge (2015) state that parents play an important role in children's life, including in the choice of career in the early stages of life. Previous research findings have shown that parental education has a relationship with students' ambition in university. As early as 4 years of age, children would already be aware of the work done by their parents. They have positive and negative feedback related to work and understand the differences in careers. In the early ages, parents often guide their children to develop skills and observe their children's academic progress. Parents provide support to their children by sending them to tuition centers to improve their achievement in science and mathematics in the early stages of schooling.

When the children enter secondary school, parents affect the children in their decision-making in choosing a career by providing financial support to the children. However, at university, parents who are unsure of the requirements in higher institutions or have financial worries will often impart negative reinforcement to their children, especially if the children want to pursue studies in competitive or difficult disciplines. Therefore, attention should be given to parents so that they are aware of the importance of their role in encouraging their children to consider various career options by providing knowledge to the parents about career choices. This suggests that parental attitudes play an important role in students' consideration of future job planning (Hall et al., 2011).

Family members such as siblings and relatives can also affect students' interest in STEM careers. This is because students can obtain information from them and can look more closely at the lives of family members who are involved in STEM careers. Family members' attitude towards science or STEM also influences career choices in STEM (Archer et al., 2013; White & Harrison, 2012).

Support through formal educational settings is important to attract students' interest in STEM careers. Educators act as role models or mentors who can nurture interest and self-efficacy towards STEM (Buday et al., 2012; Cridge & Cridge, 2015; Sahin et al., 2015). Teachers' background, education level, their social networks, and their trust strongly influence how they communicate with their students in terms of the students' preferences in higher education. Teachers' expectations, students' knowledge and achievement in STEM-related subjects also affect students' perception of their abilities (Cridge & Cridge, 2015).

Students' interest in science, achievement in science and aspiration towards STEM careers are highly dependent on the teaching approaches and teachers' quality (Nugent et al., 2015). The characteristics of an effective educator include using the latest teaching aids (Nugent et al., 2015), communicating effectively (Shumba & Naong, 2012), demonstrating quality teaching (White & Harrison, 2012), and encouraging students to learn (Nugent et al., 2015). These qualities have a major impact on student achievement beyond students' background such as poverty and minority status (Nugent et al., 2015).

Support from friends also influence the ways of thinking and it is the key in developing strong expectations in STEM careers (Buday et al., 2012; Cridge & Cridge, 2015). Peers who share an interest in STEM will help each other develop their vision as a scientist in the future. The attitude of friends, their achievements and norms have a strong influence on motivation and choice of courses (Nugent et al., 2015). Previous research has found that peers who favored science subjects are more intelligent and motivated than peers who favored the humanities (Taconis & Kessel, 2009). This finding reinforces that friends can affect students in the selection of STEM careers.

Counselors also play an important role in encouraging students to consider career options (Hall et al., 2011). At school, students talk to counselors and teachers about their future career. However, less than 10% of the counselors come from science background and they do not have enough information or expertise in STEM careers. Hence, if school counselors lack knowledge about career options, many students would not consider STEM careers as an option.

Toglia (2013) states that counselors have a significant impact on career choices of women. Counselors who lack information and training related to gender-free counseling affect the outcome of career selection of women in STEM fields. This will lead to a gender imbalance in STEM occupations that are perceived more appropriate for and dominated by men. Overall, it appears that career counselors affect students' interest in STEM careers in relation to their motivation and abilities or expertise to guide students about opportunities in STEM careers.

The local community also plays an important role in fostering interest in STEM careers by providing support to STEM outreach programs and establishing STEM informal learning centers in the community. Such informal learning centers aim to expose and foster public interest in STEM. Environmental factors that support the importance of STEM provide information to the public regarding the need to master STEM fields and create interest in STEM careers among the younger generation, especially students.

Media Influences

Sources of information may affect the dissemination of knowledge either in print or electronic form. Based on previous studies, media such as the internet, newspapers, popular scientific magazines, books, movies, and science-related programs on television can influence interest in STEM and STEM careers (Cavas et al., 2011; Venville et al., 2013). Media enables information about STEM to be disseminated quickly through a medium that is fun and helps make exploration of STEM knowledge enjoyable for students.

A study conducted by Wyss et al. (2012) found that video interviews with individuals involved in the field of STEM professions, as a means to provide job information in STEM, affected students' interest to engage in STEM careers. Thus, the media plays an important role in fostering interest in studying STEM and in STEM careers as they have the characteristics of attracting students through the use of interesting illustrations and presentations that are easy to understand while taking into account the age of the participating students.

STEM Self-Efficacy

STEM self-efficacy refers to the beliefs of an individual in meeting the standard in certain careers. There are two beliefs that might be relevant or constraining in developing one's self-confidence associated with the selection of a challenging science career. First is the belief that one cannot be successful in a particular career. The second is the belief in the demand of combining a career with one's personal life (Buday et al., 2012).

Self-efficacy is a well-researched construct which has been shown to be positively related to student performance across grade levels and disciplines, including science. Science self-efficacy has been shown to influence student selection of science-related activities, the cognitive effort they expend on these activities, and their ultimate success (Nugent et al., 2015). In SCCT, students are more likely to pursue careers in which they are confident of their capabilities and less likely to be drawn to careers where they doubt their skills and performance (Nugent et al., 2015). Self-efficacy in STEM has been shown to be a predictor of pursuing a college major in STEM (Wang, 2013; Heilbronner, 2011).

Perception of STEM Careers

The overview of the environmental and job prospects in STEM careers will affect a person's interest in the related career field (Kier et al., 2013; Nugent et al., 2015). In this study, perception of STEM careers was selected as the predictor of interest in STEM careers instead of outcome expectancy in SCCT. Perception of careers in STEM refers to the perception of job prospects in STEM fields and the skills needed by workers in STEM fields. Job prospects in STEM fields include the working environment in terms of safety, job satisfaction, perception of STEM as a prestigious career, high employment opportunities, higher income, and contribution to society (Sahin et al., 2015; Kier et al., 2013). Basic skills to be mastered in careers related to STEM fields are higher order thinking skills, creative problem-solving skills, teamwork, as well as constructing, designing and repairing things.

Interest in STEM careers

In this study, interest in STEM careers was adapted from Langdon et al. (2013) and Faber et al. (2013). Based on Langdon et al. (2013), STEM careers include jobs involved in research, applying knowledge from one or more of the elements of science, mathematics, engineering and technology, producing new ideas (innovations and industries), and contributing directly to innovation and economic development. STEM careers measured in this study were based on 12 STEM related disciplines, namely Physics, Environmental works, Biology and Zoology, Mathematics, Earth science, Computer science, Medical science, Chemistry, Energy, and Engineering. In addition, there are 10 types of scientists in the real world. These are business scientists, communicators, developers, entrepreneurs, explorers, investigators, policy regulators, service providers, and science teachers/educators (Science Council, 2016). Based on these 10 types of scientists, two types of scientists fit into this study's definition of STEM careers, i.e. Entrepreneur scientists and science teachers. Entrepreneur scientists help to create innovation and economic development while science teachers/educators help to ensure that STEM fields continue to grow through the delivery of knowledge concerning STEM. In this study, these 12 STEM careers were further categorized into two general disciplines related to STEM i.e., life sciences and physical sciences. These two main STEM disciplines provided the research a way of determining the tendency of students' interest in STEM careers. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a questionnaire on interest in STEM careers as well as the factors influencing interest in STEM careers i.e., environmental factors, STEM self-efficacy and perception of STEM careers.