Gang-involved children dream of becoming respected members of society through professional careers, educational degrees or credentials, and socioeconomic mobility. This qualitative study used hoped-for selves as the theoretical grounding for exploring the career and college-going aspirations of 28 middle- and high-school gang-involved Latino boys…

This study examines whether premature termination of vocational education and training (VET) is more likely when trainees have to make compromises between their realistic occupational aspirations and the occupation for which they are trained in terms of the occupational dimensions of gender type, prestige, and occupational interests. Specifically,…

This study investigates the effect of a female STEM professional mentoring program on perceptions among K-12 female participants. Led by STEM professionals, the program aims to enhance understanding of STEM careers. The findings reveal significant changes in the K-12 females' attitude and career aspirations towards STEM following their involvement…

This paper makes two contributions to the literature on social stratification in vocational attainment. First, we evaluate whether labour market literacy, as measured by knowledge about earnings in different occupations, is socially stratified. Second, we analyse whether differences in expected earnings between high-income and low-income…

This study investigated the relationship between middle school students' computational thinking skills and their STEM career interest and attitudes toward inquiry. A total of 289 students (146 female, 143 male) enrolled in four different middle schools in one province of Turkey participated in this study. Three different data collection tools were…

Educational science has consistently examined what drives adolescents to aspire to occupations in math-related fields -- and which factors, such as gender stereotypes, may drive them away. In this study, we utilized a large longitudinal data set (N = 1,092) to test whether past grades, gender, and the math level of mothers' and fathers'…

In Aotearoa New Zealand stark social class inequities persist between Maori (Indigenous) and Pacific people and the Pakeha (New Zealand European) majority. These inequities are apparent in domains including education, income, health, and incarceration. The article explores the relationship between streaming (tracking) and historically rooted…

This study investigates junior high school students' perspectives on improving manufactured products and their perceptions as users after participating in materials processing technology learning in Japan. Guided by recent changes in Japanese curriculum guidelines emphasizing real-world application, we conducted a web-based survey collecting 721…

This study examined factors that have been shown to predict middle school students' (grades 6-8) task values (utility value related to engaging with science in the future). Using structural equation modeling students' (N = 1015) responses to a career aspiration survey were analyzed to determine relationships among the factors. The model of best…

Teacher evaluation has been closely tied to professional development. In special education, professional development experiences are meant to promote special educator learning and implementation of high leverage practices. Yet, the connection between teacher evaluation outcomes and professional development decisions of special educators is largely…

An explanation for the underrepresentation of women in mathematical fields is the communal goal congruity perspective; that women tend to value communal over agentic goals, perceived to not be afforded by mathematical careers. Less is known about how agentic and communal goals may interact to influence mathematical career trajectories. Analysing a…

The iDrone Online Camp aims to enhance middle and high school students' engagement in STEM fields through hands-on experiences with drone technology. By immersing participants in project-based learning activities, competitions, and discussions on FAA part 107 regulations, the camp seeks to cultivate critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and…

Focusing on asylum seeker and refugee students attending a school with the stated mission to cater to recent immigrants, asylees, and refugees in Texas, we explored the school experiences of asylum-seeking and refugee middle schoolers and how they see their education. Having obtained political asylum in the United States, they are hiding from…

Several conceptual and theoretical studies on the importance of science-technology-engineering-mathematics (STEM) careers and the 21st century skills required for these careers have been carried out; because they have been accepted as important for the improvement of society and maintenance of economic growth. However, there has not been research…

This critical ethnography studies five Latino boys, their parents and teachers and how they see themselves as part of the academic community in a public middle school on eastern Long Island. Students were observed in classes and students, parents and teachers were interviewed. Each interview was recorded and transcribed. Tables were created that…