Educational Practices using SCCT with an Awareness for Cultural and Gender disparities

Both the Social Learning theory and the Social Cognitive Career Theory frameworks are useful for educators to apply through K-12, especially in the areas of math and science, which are crucial courses in the influence towards interest in future STEM programs and careers. If STEM interests in students was fostered in school through in-class lessons, sciences fairs, and afterschool clubs for instance, along with encouraging positive beliefs and self-confidence beliefs especially around the area of math and science, has been shown to have a strong effect in the students’ future career selection (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002).

It turns out that self-efficacy beliefs play a bigger role that just the grades received than typically expected for students in influencing STEM interest and career planning (Maltese & Tai, 2011). Parents and educators need to be aware that their guidance, mentoring and support during all grades of learning do contribute towards heightening the learner’s math and science self-efficacy as well as coping self-efficacy. It has been found that the secondary school years are crucial in learner’s development of educational and vocational aspirations including STEM (Sahin & Waxman, 2021), as their confident and abilities continue to develop new skills and interests.

Science educators need to be empowered and encouraged to be “worthy models for their learners by virtue of their role and also by virtue of their hierarchical position”(Rumjaun & Narod, 2020).

Additionally, studies have demonstrated that both formal and informal learning activities have been shown to affect STEM self-efficacy. In one of the current studies by Sahin and Waxman (2021), who examined grade 12 students’ perceptions of three influencing factors that affected their STEM career interest, they discovered that parents, teachers and STEM related courses taken in high school were cited most frequently as the strongest influencing factors.

Women in STEM (infographic) https://stem-supplies.com/stem-resources/infographics

It is important to note that there are gender differences that exist in domain specific interpretation of self-efficacy. For instance, Vermeer et al. (2000) had found that men interpreted their grades and achievements in STEM different from women, which has different effects on a learner’s impression of their self-efficacy. In a study by Chan (2022) about how gender disparities and influence from cultural norms had an impact on self-efficacy of student aspirations towards STEM files, similar results were found that girls were “more likely to show lower levels of self-efficacy than boys; this was associated with lower interest in STEM and lower motivation to pursue STEM careers”.

These cultural differences create challenges for Asian females in particular, who are still expected to be family-centric in their roles and responsibilities, and so feel conflicted when trying to develop their own self-efficacy, interest and career goals (Chan, 2022). It is the consideration of these other factors that contribute to the gender gaps in students wanting to study and pursue careers in STEM.

This is a challenging issue that persists world-wide, with this gender gap in STEM. The research and implications point to the need for more programs that target the social emotional needs of female learners, more female mentors from STEM fields encouraging and guiding students, more community engagement with minority race families to educate them on challenges around gender disparities that may be tied to cultural upbringing and how to better support their children in developing interests towards STEM fields.

References

Chan, R.C. (2022) A social cognitive perspective on gender disparities in self-efficacy, interest, and aspirations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM): the influence of cultural and gender norms. International Journal of STEM Education. 9 (37), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-022-0035-0

Eccles, J.S., & Wigfield, A. (2002). Motivational beliefs, values and goals. Annual Review of Psychology, 53 (1), 109-132.

Maltese, A.V., & Tai, R.H. (2011). Pipeline persistence: Examining the association of educational experiences with earned degrees in STEM among US students. Science Education, 95(5), 877-907.

Rumjaun, A., & Narod, F. (2020). Social Learning Theory—Albert Bandura. Springer International Publishing. https://doi-org.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/10.1007/978-3-030-43620-9_7

Sahin, A., & Waxman, H. C. (2021). Factors Affecting High School Students’ Stem Career Interest: Findings from A 4-Year Study. Journal of STEM Education: Innovations & Research, 22(3), 46–60.

Vermeer, H.J., Boekaerts, M., & Seegers, G. (2000). Motivational and gender differences: sixth-grade students’ trends in chemistry self-efficacy throughout a semester of college-level preparatory chemistry. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 15(2), 114-127.