Literature Review #4

(1)Visual-


(2)Citation- Moakler, MW and MM Kim. "College Major Choice in STEM: Revisiting Confidence and Demographic Factors." Career Development Quarterly, vol. 62, no. 2, n.d., pp. 128-142.

(3)Summary- This article discusses the effects of self confidence grades, and encouragement by others to pursue careers in STEM. It points out that women do not get the same encouragement that men do and therefore do not have as much confidence which could be a possible reason for the discrepancy in major choices.

(4)Authors- Martin W. Moakler Jr and Mikyong Minsun Kim are both part of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at The George Washington University.

(5)Key terms-
Self-confidence -students’ attitudes, feelings, and perceptions concerning their academic abilities

self-efficacy - performance capability, not current abilities. Performance accomplishments (academic abilities) are the most influential source of self-efficacy information because they are based on personal mastery (Bandura, 1977).

(6)Quotes- "Likewise, student ability and confidence in math and science and their effect on STEM career interest development have been reported in many studies, especially with respect to women and minorities." (129)
"American women traditionally steer away from STEM disciplines (Betz & Hackett, 1981; Fouad, 2007; Lee, 1998; Seymore, 1992). Perrone et al. (2001) attributed this phenomenon to the lack of female role models or insufficient confidence about entering STEM fields." (130)
"We found several positive indicators of STEM major choice: having parents with a STEM occupation, having higher SAT scores, having a higher high school GPA, having spent more hours studying or doing homework, being a minority (African American or Latina/o), having higher academic confidence, and having higher mathematics confidence. Consistent with previous studies and the social phenomenon of a gender gap in STEM, this study found that being female was consistently shown as a negative predictor for student STEM major choice." (138)

(7)Value- I think this article is very valuable because it brings another possible reason for the difference in major choices between men and women. Not only is the difference due to innate differences in genders, but also due to self confidence of students. Students who are encouraged by educators and parents are more likely to succeed in areas and subsequently pursue those areas. Women seem to be getting this encouragement and therefore not pursing the fields as much.