Curriculum Standardization, Stratification, and Students’ STEM Occupational Expectations: Evidence From PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2006

• In Event: National Standards and Curricula: Challenges Here and Abroad

Abstract

Using data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006, I investigate the degree to which features of national education systems are associated with cross-national variation in students’ STEM occupational expectations. Overall, higher levels of both curricular standardization and stratification in secondary education were linked to lower student expectations for health service occupations. In contrast, students’ computing and engineering (CE) occupational expectations were not associated with any of the characteristics of secondary education systems measured in the current study —the standardization of curriculum, the number of school types available to 15-year-old students, or early tracking. Finally, the association between the features of national education systems and certain types of student STEM occupational expectations differed across student performance levels.

Author

• Seong Won Han, University at Buffalo - SUNY