Understanding Latino Parents' Support of Their High School Students in Science: Insights From Mixed Methods

• In Event: Parental Effects on Adolescents' and Young Adults' Motivation and Career Plans in STEM

Abstract

Framework and Objectives
High school is a pivotal point in the STEM pipeline in the United States (Maltese & Tai, 2011). Approximately, 45% of US 10th grade students interested in pursuing a STEM career lost that interest by the end of high school (Aschbacher et al., 2010). Females and Latinos are at a particularly high risk to leave STEM. According to the Eccles’ expectancy-value model, parental support bolsters adolescents’ science motivation and should lessen the risk for dropping out (Wigfield et al., 2015). But, much of the existing empirical work focuses on elementary school and non-Latino students (e.g., Simpkins et al., 2015). Moreover, questions concerning the direction of influence (e.g., are parents driving the processes or reacting to adolescents’ achievement) become central during this age period but have yet to be addressed. Therefore, the goal of this mixed-methods study was to examine the relations between Latino parents’ support and adolescents’ ability and motivational beliefs at 9th and 10th grade.

Data / Method
Longitudinal data on 103 Latino parent- student dyads (see Table 1 for participant information) were collected in 9th and 10th grade (the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 school years, respectively). Quantitative data were collected on parents’ science-specific support (reported by parents, 6-10 items, α =.75-.81), adolescents’ science ability (reported by teachers, 3 items, α =.96), and adolescents’ science ability self-concept and value (reported by adolescents, 12-15 items, α =.92-.95). Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with adolescents and parents in 10th grade on a variety of topics including adolescents’ value of science, parents’ support of the adolescent in science, and who the adolescent goes to for science help.

Results / Significance
We characterized parents’ science support in terms of their overall support as well as three specific types of support: (a) coactivity, (b) school involvement, and (c) positivity. The quantitative results are similar across parents’ overall support and the three specific types of parents’ support, as well as within each wave and longitudinally. As shown in Figure 1, parents’ overall support was not related to adolescents’ science ability (or motivation), which contradicts previous work suggesting parents’ support is a positive predictor in a variety of domains (Simpkins et al., 2015; Wigfield et al., 2015). The six sections shown in Figure 1 are defined by the quantitative data and will determine our groups for the qualitative analysis. Comparisons across cases within each group and across groups will help explain cases that are unexpected based on theory. For example, it is possible that the adolescents in section 1 exemplify the natural developmental progression of increasing autonomy in areas in which adolescents are skilled. Alternatively, it is possible that parents in section 1 have little involvement do to cultural or socioeconomic barriers and that adolescents are succeeding due to other non-parental supports or individual assets. The qualitative findings will provide insight into the universality of the expectancy-value model and what other indicators need to be considered to understand the complex relations among Latino parents’ science support and adolescents’ ability and motivation.

Author

• Sandra D. Simpkins, University of California - Irvine