Masculinity and femininity have played a substantial role in how social scientists explain the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. The masculine culture of science is thought to be inconsistent with occupational values associated with feminine personalities, and to create a discriminatory academic…

This case study explores how a group of Grade 9 students engaged in sociopolitical discourses and actions in a science class in a mostly indigenous student school in Nepal. The study used sociopolitical consciousness (SPC) as a framework to document and understand indigenous students' SPC-oriented science interactions and subsequent social change…

Can engaging college students in client-centered projects in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) coursework increase interest in STEM professions? The current study explored the effectiveness of project-based learning (PjBL) courses on student attitudes, major choice, and career aspirations in STEM. Framed in expectancy-value…

Prior research shows that undergraduates tend to identify more strongly with the field of science after participating in scientific research. However, mediators that might account for this association are not well understood. In the current study, we propose that science self-efficacy may serve this mediational function. Specifically, data from a…

The underrepresentation of non-White students and girls in STEM fields is an ongoing problem that is well documented. In K-12 science education, girls, and especially non-White girls, often do not identify with science regardless of test scores. In this study, we examine the narrated and embodied identities-in-practice of non-White, middle school…

Science achievement and self-concept are articulated in this study to examine a model of reciprocal relationship during a crosscultural transition. Trend data have been gathered to assess changes of the perceived English importance before and after Hong Kong's sovereignty handover from Britain to China. The data analyses were conducted four times…

Achievement goal theory distinguishes between mastery goals (the goals of developing competence) and performance goals (the goals of demonstrating competence) [Ames [1992] "Journal of Educational Psychology" 84: 261-271]. In this study, we employed this theory aiming to better understand why adolescents' motivation to learn science…

This study aimed to assess grade 10 Turkish students' and science teachers' conceptions of nature of science (NOS) and whether these conceptions were related to selected variables. These variables included participants' gender, geographical region, and the socioeconomic status (SES) of their city and region; teacher disciplinary background, years…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the degree to which A. Bandura's ([1997]) hypothesized sources of self-efficacy predict the science self-efficacy beliefs of middle school students (N = 319), to replicate previous findings that science self-efficacy predicts science achievement, and to explore how science self-efficacy and its…

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to explore the development of belief systems as related to racial and ethnic identities of preservice teachers as they crossed cultural borders into science teaching. Data were collected throughout a yearlong teacher preparation program to learn how early life experiences and racial and ethnic identities…