Alana S. Phillips

Jennifer Miller

University of North Texas

Career Interests of Students in a STEAM Camp

Summer STEAM Camp Experience

Research Questions

Are STEM career interests of males different

from females?

Are STEM career interests different by age

group?

What are the primary factors that influence a

career choice?

Population

3

12

6

8

5

3

1

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Ag

e

N = 38

27

11

0

10

20

30

M F

Ag

e

Instrument

STEM Career Interest Questionnaire

(Knezek & Christensen, 2009)

Twelve questions, Likert-type responses

– 1= strongly disagree to

– 5 = strongly agree

Three parts

– Supports (Part 1)

– Education (Part 2)

– Career (Part 3)

Instrument (cont’d)

1. I would like to have a career in science.

2. My family is interested in the science courses I take.

3. I would enjoy a career in science.

4. My family has encouraged me to study science.

5. I will make it into a good college and major in an area

needed for a career in science.

6. I will graduate with a college degree in a major area

needed for a career in science.

Instrument (cont’d)

7. I will have a successful professional career and make

substantial scientific contributions.

8. I will get a job in a science-related area.

9. Some day when I tell others about my career, they will

respect me for doing scientific work.

10. A career in science would enable me to work with others

in meaningful ways.

11. Scientists make a meaningful difference in the world.

12. Having a career in science would be challenging.

RESULTS

Reliability

Cronbach’s Alpha (α) = .91 (Excellent)

Subscales (α)

– Supports = .78 (Good)

– Education = .87 (Good)

– Career = .73 (Good)

Validity

Total Variance of Three Factors 74.03%

Communality values of all variables

exceeded .65 (considered high)

Age and Family Factor (p=.039,Cohen’s d

=.62)

Analysis by Age Group

Factor/Age Group N MeanStd.

Deviation

Sig

between

grps

Cohen’s

d

Supports (Part 1)

Younger 22 3.31 1.11

Older 16 3.77 0.76

Total 38 3.5 0.99 1.63 0.483

Education (Part 2)

Younger 22 3.44 1.07

Older 16 3.76 0.67

Total 38 3.58 0.92 0.303 0.358

Career (Part 3)

Younger 22 3.91 1.01

Older 16 4.29 0.68

Total 38 4.07 0.9 1.99 0.441

Analysis by Gender

Factor/Gender N MeanStd.

Deviation

Sig

between

grps

Cohen’s

d

Supports

Male 28 3.41 1.11

Female 10 3.75 0.51

Total 38 3.5 0.99 0.361 0.393

Education

Male 28 3.54 1.03

Female 10 3.68 0.57

Total 38 3.58 0.92 0.693 0.168

Career

Male 28 3.95 0.92

Female 10 4.4 0.77

Total 38 4.07 0.9 0.179 0.53

Results

Means on the subscales appeared higher for

older students than younger and higher for

females than males.

Item 4, “My family has encouraged me to

study science” was rated much more

positively by the younger students.

Discussion

Limitations of the study

– Population

– No pre/post test

Future research

References

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral

sciencies. Routle

DeVellis, R. F. (2011). Scale development: Theory and applications

(Vol. 26). Sage.

Knezek, G. & Christensen, R. (2009). Career Interest

Questionnaire, Retrieved from

http://www.iittl.unt.edu/IITTL/newiittl/STEM/ CareerInterestQ.pdf

MacCallum, R. C., Widaman, K. F., Zhang, S., & Hong, S. (1999).

Sample size in factor analysis. Psychological methods, 4(1), 84.

Tyler-Wood, T., Knezek, G., & Christensen, R. (2010). Instruments

for assessing interest in STEM content and careers. Journal of

Technology and Teacher Education, 18(2), 345-368.

Conclusion

Questions?