Vocational education and training (VET) suffers from declining interest and is often perceived as non-attractive. This view may deprive young people of a potentially rewarding and satisfying career. There are also a variety of challenges in vocational didactics and in the cooperation between education systems and trades. In this article, it is…

The literature defines curiosity and interest, but it is not clear how interest can be generated, where interest is positioned in the learning process, and what the impact of interest is on cognitive and emotional development. This paper reports on a three-year, iterative design-based research project involving three separate cohorts totalling 57…

Counsellor Education programmes provide opportunities for students to engage in approaches grounded in theory and research, utilise appropriate interventions, and conceptualise career concerns using both objective and subjective methods. This phenomenological study examined 25 students' perceptions of learning and conducting the Career…

Girls often express less interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education and careers than boys, despite having comparable aptitude. We randomly assigned 242 girls (Mdn[subscript age] = 12 years; 38% East Asian; 37% White) at Canadian STEM camps to control conversations about generic camp experiences, or intervention…

Purpose: Interest in medical science and social commitments are most essential to the medical profession. This study evaluated the attitude and knowledge of first-year undergraduate medical students about the medical profession at the beginning of their orientation program. Design/methodology/approach: A cross-sectional study was done using a…

Student motivation within a STEM course is dependent on their perceived relevance and utility of the topics learned. This paper presents an Informative Utility Value Intervention (IUVI) designed to promote perceptions of utility. The IUVI was designed as a series of assignments for general chemistry students in large lecture courses, but the…

The journey to pursue and persist with a career in STEM is a complex process that begins at a young age, continues across secondary education and the end of school transition to university. Such decisions are influenced by a range of personal, social and environmental factors, highlighting the practical complexities of supporting young people in…

Many are unfamiliar with the field of industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology. Vocational interests are often used to guide students' academic and career choices, but there is no scale that measures interest in the specific areas of I-O psychology. Study 1 and 2 present the initial development and refinement of the I-O Psychology Interest…

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…

One of the major challenges faced by the education system today is the lack of interest exhibited by undergraduates in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. This is particularly concerning as the world is becoming increasingly technology-driven, and a skilled workforce is necessary to meet future demands. Therefore,…

Purpose: This study aimed to empirically examine the factors influencing career choices among students in Somali private universities, guided by expectancy theory. Specifically, it examined the impact of external influences, self-efficacy, perceived social status, career opportunities and students' interest in career choices.…

Educators are often trying to foster Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) engagement by facilitating interest in STEM content, but research suggests that STEM interest generally declines through the primary and secondary grades. To counter this trend, STEM interventions have begun to focus on younger students. To support this work, we…

Background: Learning interest is an intrinsic motivation that dynamically interacts with friendships. Students alter their learning interests to assimilate with their friends and actively establish friendships on the basis of similar interests. These processes do not operate in isolation but rather in the broader peer context. Class-level…

Unstructured out-of-school time (OST) science activities, such as reading a science book, watching a science television show, or researching on the internet about science, constitute a self-sustaining way for adolescents to engage in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Although it is suggested that long-term engagement in…

Science remains an exclusionary field to people who do not align with "acceptable" worldviews (e.g., white, Western, masculine). One avenue for making science more welcoming and inclusive is to empower current science students to become change agents in their fields. However, it is useful to understand where students are starting from…