The Role of Communally Focused Teaching Practices in Shaping Students’ STEM Career Interests (Poster 11)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Saturday 9:50 a.m.
  In Poster Session: Exploring Contextual, Climate, and Social Supports for Motivational Processes

Abstract

Recognizing that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers can fulfill communal goals (i.e., communal goal affordances) improves students’ STEM career interests. This study examined how different types of communally focused teaching practices influence undergraduate students’ perceived communal goal affordances in STEM and, in turn, their career interests. Results showed that indirect communal teaching practices emphasizing collaboration and prosociality, as well as direct communal practices emphasizing collaboration, all predicted students’ perceptions of communal goal affordances in STEM. However, indirect practices had stronger relationships with goal affordances, and only prosocial goal affordances, not collaboration goal affordances, predicted career interests. The findings highlight the potential importance of integrating collaborative and prosocial content into STEM teaching to boost students’ career interests.

Authors

• Yanyan Zong, University of Southern California

• Erika A. Patall, University of Southern California

• Amanda Vite, University of Southern California