Emily Felitsky

Abstract:

It has been found that the biggest difference in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) interest is gender. There is a gap in research of the STEM courses taken, future career plans, and the attitudes and interests of STEM among 11th and 12th graders. The sample consisted of n=103 11th and 12th grade students. One section of the survey was adapted from the middle school student survey created by Meredith W. Kier, Margaret R Blanchard, Jason W. Osborne, and Jennifer L. Albert's study, The Development of the STEM Career Interest. The main finders were the following: 1) males took more technology and engineering courses than females; 2) females favored health sciences while males favored STEM careers; 3) males favored technology and engineering more than females. These findings suggest that females are on par with males in math and sciences but lack in technology and engineering. More extensive research can aid on to why females lack in certain areas and how to encourage females in technology and engineering.