The evidence regarding the effectiveness of STEM support programs for K-12 students to spark their interest in the STEM field is mixed. The goals and contents of support programs vary and mostly cover short intervention periods. So far, not many studies exist that cover different learning characteristics of students in long-term STEM support…

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on society includes the careers and career decision-making of emerging adults. This impact could influence how emerging adults approach careers and work-life balance. Vocational anticipatory socialisation examines how sources of career information influence the career decision-making process. With the COVID-19…

Background: Employment is often central to individuals' lives. However, individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities are often absent from the workplace, and little research has examined their interest in working. Aims: This study examined whether people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities want jobs; why they do or…

Efforts to build the workforce in support of the second quantum revolution are growing, including the creation of education programs that will prepare students for jobs in this area. We surveyed 186 undergraduate students with majors across the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines and followed up with group interviews to…

Computer gameplay and social media are the two most common forms of entertainment in the digital age. Many scholars share the assumption that leisure-time digital consumption is associated with CS affinity, but there is a dearth of research evidence for this relationship. Female students generally spend less time on gaming and more time on social…

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between middle school students' attitudes towards robotic coding and their STEM career interests. For this purpose, data were collected from a total of 213 students studying in three different secondary schools in a province in the south of Turkey. The "STEM Career Interest" scale and…

Previous research suggests that girls have higher occupational aspirations than boys before entering the labor market. We investigate whether this gender gap in occupational aspirations generalizes to secondary school students in Germany and illuminate the possible mechanisms behind these purported gender differences. For this purpose, we used a…

Background: Given the gendering of engineering roles and competencies, the evidence that the skills required for engineering management are widely referred to as social, and the fact that men engineers are stereotyped as more technical, and women as more social, it might be theorized that (a) those that occupy managerial (vs. technical) roles in…

Technology is affecting our lives more and more. It has consequences to every human being, and we find ourselves faced with both positive and negative aspects of technology. Certainly, this has an effect on our attitudes towards technology. In this study, we tried to find out if there have been any changes in attitudes towards technology among…

Single-sex classrooms have been a topic of interest in the educational community since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The academic achievement gap between boys and girls in high school is a complex and multifaceted issue that has garnered significant attention in educational research. Proponents of single-sex classrooms argue that it…

This study examined the structure of Holland's personality model (HPM) among male and female South Korean college students using the Korean version of the Self-Directed Search (K-SDS) and investigated gender differences in the circular structure of HPM and circular plots of the K-SDS subscales (i.e., activities, competences, vocations, and…

Background: Engineering societies call for more gender diversity, but especially girls' interest in engineering remains low. Basic Electronics is a bachelor-level study module, offered to upper secondary school students to attract them to study electrical engineering. Recently, on average, 34% of the upper secondary school students attending the…

To enhance understanding of factors that may improve students' STEM career participation, we explored Hong Kong secondary students' self-perceptions of STEM subjects and career interests using the STEM Semantic Survey and Career Interest Survey questionnaire. Results showed that most students thought technology was more appealing than science,…

Social cognitive career theory posits that career interests and decisions are influenced by individual, contextual, and behavioural factors. This research aims to assess the impact of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) activities on students' interest and aspirations in STEM careers. Additionally, the study aims to explore…

We investigated (a) the fit and structural equivalence of Holland's model of six vocational personality types in a sample of South African men (n = 139) and women (n = 268) using the South African Career Interest Inventory, and (b) mean score differences for men and women on these types. The results supported the fit and structural similarity of…