Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation
8-2023
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Ed. D.
Department
Educational Leadership, Evaluation and Organizational Development
Degree Program
Educational Leadership and Organizational Development, EDD
Committee Chair
Immekus, Jason
Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)
Ingle, Kyle
Committee Member
Ingle, Kyle
Committee Member
Powers, Deborah
Committee Member
Hinds, Shawn
Author's Keywords
STEM; social cognitive career theory; high school; black; latinx; female
Abstract
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has received significant attention in the United States since the Space Race with Russia beginning in the 1950s. Most recently, STEM education has received national attention because of the scarcity of qualified STEM graduates taking on the growing number of STEM jobs in the United States. Additionally, an issue exists within STEM college majors and careers, a lack of Black, Latinx, and female students are pursuing these fields hurting the overall number of STEM college students and career holders and negatively impacts the diversity within STEM fields in the United States. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between Black, Latinx, and female students’ interest in STEM with four other social cognitive factors, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, personal goals, and environmental supports, to understand which factors are most related to interest in STEM. Through a correlation design, this study investigated the numerical relationships between interest and each of the social cognitive factors in STEM. This study’s findings provided strong and positive correlations between STEM interest and ix STEM personal goals, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations. The findings of this study have implications for STEM educators, educational leaders invested in the growth of STEM, and future research employing social cognitive factors applied to STEM education.
Recommended Citation
Bacon, Don, "The relationship between high school stem courses and students attending low-income schools' college major and career choices: a social cognitive perspective." (2023). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 4176.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/4176
