The Impact of Information on STEM Jobs on Adolescents' Career Interests: A Survey Experiment

• In Event: Pathways to STEM Identity Development for Youth Underrepresented in STEM

Abstract

This study employs an experimental survey design to test whether providing adolescents with information on the STEM occupations, particularly earnings advantage for STEM workers relative to non-STEM workers, can influence their career interests in STEM, and if effect is larger for low-SES students. It also proposes and tests a new four-item scale for measuring STEM career orientation. This study is conducted with about 500 middle and high school students attending a seven-week STEM summer program in a metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States. The results of this study can inform policymakers and educators about whether a low-cost informational intervention that provides labor market information to students can be effectively improve their career interests in STEM, especially among low-SES students.

Author

• Guan Saw, Claremont Graduate University