Influential Factors of Educational Achiecement

Factors that influence persistence in science and engineering career aspirations

HYPERLINK "http /findarticles .com /p /articles /mi_m0JAX " Career Development Quarterly , HYPERLINK "http /findarticles .com /p /articles /mi_m0JAX /is_3_51 " March , 2003 by HYPERLINK "http /findarticles .com /p /search ?tb art qt 22Wei-Cheng Mau 22 Wei-Cheng Mau

The author investigated students ' persistence regarding career aspirations in science and engineering (SE ) professional careers as a function of race and sex . In a nationally representative sample of 8th graders , persistent racial minority and female students were compared with nonpersistent racial minority and male students

regarding their self-concept , parental involvement , socioeconomic status , and academic achievement . Men were more likely than women to persist in SE career aspirations . Persistent students scored higher than did nonpersistent students on all of the variables studied . Academic proficiency and math self-efficacy were 2 of the strongest predictors of persistence in SE careers

Women and minorities are entering male-dominated careers in increasing numbers and at a rapid pace . This fact has prompted numerous researchers to study the characteristics of women who engage in nontraditional careers (e .g , Anderson , 1992 Grandy , 1992 Hill , 1999 Huang , Taddese Walter Peng , 2000 Lips , 1992 Mau , Domnick Ellsworth , 1995 Oakes , 1990 Seymour , 1995 . However , most of these studies have concentrated on the nontraditional career choices of college and adult populations . Moreover , most of these studies provide no information on the significance of each variable in comparison with the others , nor do they indicate how these variables interrelate and contribute to the choices women make when choosing nontraditional careers

Because of the critical nature of students ' educational aspirations researchers (e .g , Anderson , 1992 Farmer , Wardrop , Anderson Risinger , 1995 Fouad Smith , 1996 Hanson , 1994 Mau , 1995 Mau Bikos , 2000 Mau et al , 1995 Wilson Wilson , 1992 ) have begun investigating the relative importance of factors that have been theorized as being influential in shaping those specific aspirations For example , Mau et al (1995 ) compared eighth-grade female students who aspired to science and engineering careers with those who aspired to homemaking careers . Their results showed that students who aspired to nontraditional careers had higher academic achievement , self-esteem internal locus of control , parental expectations , and socioeconomic status . Informed by social cognitive career theory (Lent , Brown Hackett , 1996 , Mau and Bikos (2000 ) identified four clusters of variables--personal /psychological characteristics , family variables school experiences , and race and sex--that significantly predicted the occ upational aspirations of racial minority and female students

Social cognitive career theory (SCOT ) has emerged as an influential theory in describing an individual 's career development (Isaacson Brown , 2000 . According to the SCOT (Lent et al , 1996 , in addition to genetically determined characteristics , career-related behavior is influenced by four variables--behaviors , self-efficacy beliefs , outcome expectations , and goals . Self-efficacy serves as a generative mechanism through which individuals integrate and apply their existing cognitive behavioral , and social skills to a task . SCOT posits that self-efficacy affects thought patterns and partly determines individuals ' actions their decisions to engage in a task , to put forth effort , and to persevere under failure (Bandura , 1986 . In this study...