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STEM CAREER ASPIRATIONS AMONG PORTUGUESE SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS 

Conference Paper · November 2023 

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Teresa Ribeirinha 

Polytechnic Institute of Santarém 

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Monica Baptista 

University of Lisbon 

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XXV Simpósio Internacional de Informática Educativa 

STEM CAREER ASPIRATIONS AMONG PORTUGUESE  SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS 

Teresa Ribeirinha  

School of Education 

Polytechnic University of Santarem Santarém, Portugal  

Life Quality Research Centre 

Rio Maior, Portugal 

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5678-3476  

Marisa Correia 

School of Education 

Polytechnic University of Santarem Santarém, Portugal 

Life Quality Research Centre Rio Maior, Portugal 

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6205-4475 

Mónica Baptista 

Instituto de Educação 

University of Lisbon 

UIDEF 

Lisbon, Portugal 

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1609-5764 

Abstract— The main objective of this study was to investigate  the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)  career interests of secondary school students in Portugal. Data  were collected from a sample of 190 twelfth grade students,  consisting of 106 females and 84 males, using the STEM Career  Interest Survey. The results showed that interest in careers in  engineering tended to be lower than interest in mathematics,  science, and technology among secondary school students. The  study also found a gender gap in students’ interest in science,  engineering, and technology careers. Female students were less  interested in engineering and technology-related careers than  their male counterparts, but more interested in science-related  careers. These findings can inform education policy makers,  curriculum developers, teachers, and researchers about the  importance of STEM education in nurturing and cultivating  students’ interest in STEM fields. 

Keywords—career, interest, secondary students, STEM  education 

1. INTRODUCTION 

Nowadays, an increasing number of occupations require a  strong foundation in science, technology, engineering, and  mathematics (STEM). Making informed decisions, both as  individuals and as a society, increasingly relies on having a  basic understanding of STEM. This encompasses  understanding medical diagnoses, evaluating competing  claims related to the environment, and effectively utilizing a  wide range of computer-based applications in our daily  activities [1]. The fourth industrial revolution brought  enormous advances, such as artificial intelligence, augmented  reality, quantum computing, big data, and analytics, but also  numerous challenges. So, there is a pressing need to prepare  students for the ever-evolving technological landscape of the  fourth industrial revolution. This entails equipping students  with a mastery of knowledge and skills in STEM-related  fields, as well as fostering their interest in pursuing careers  related to STEM [2]. 

However, there has been a noticeable decline in the  enrolment of students in STEM fields of study in tertiary  Education, especially in information and communication  technologies (ICT); and engineering, manufacturing, and  construction [3]. Recognizing this decrease as one of the most  significant challenges for the future of Europe, there is a need  to address the shortage of skilled individuals in these areas [4].  Moreover, although women constitute most of undergraduate  students, on average across OECD countries, they are still  under-represented in STEM. The shortage of STEM workers  

and the underrepresentation of both ethnic minorities and  women have been extensively documented, as reported by  UNESCO [5]. Even though gender gap was overcome in  natural sciences, mathematics and statistics, other STEM  fields remained critical, such as engineering and ICT [3, 6]. 

According to data from the International Labor  Organization (ILO) [7], women constitute 38% of individuals  holding STEM degrees, and they hold approximately 44% of  the jobs in STEM fields, despite the fact that such jobs make  up only 12% of total employment. The striking 24 percentage  point gender gap in the number of STEM graduates in  Portugal highlights the need for substantial progress.  

Over the last decade, the Portuguese government and  education policymakers have been working to strengthen  STEM education by focusing on two key components:  improving STEM curricula and teaching methods to make  them both effective and engaging and promoting teacher  education and professional development in STEM [8]. The  national strategies have been aimed at 1) increasing the  proficiency of all students and teachers in STEM, in order to  improve the ability of students to address increasingly  complex problems; and 2) increasing the number of students  pursuing STEM careers and advanced studies by raising  awareness of the importance of STEM and by stimulating  interest in STEM subjects [8]. However, according to the  General Directorate of Statistics for Education and Science  data, in Portugal between 2016 and 2021, the post-secondary  study paths chosen by students are social sciences, commerce  and law, even though more than 50% of students choose  science and technology at the end of the ninth grade [9]. In this  context, the Impulso Adultos and Impulso Jovens STEAM programs, part of the ongoing Recovery and Resilience Plan  (PRR 2021-2026) [10] were launched in Portugal, aiming to  graduate over 18, 000 students through higher education in  STEAM domains by the end of 2025, as compared to the total  number of graduates in 2020. Additionally, they aim to qualify  approximately 100,000 adults by the end of 2025, with the  goal of increasing the percentage of higher education  graduates among the population aged 30-34 to 50% by 2030,  up from around 37% in 2020. This program also seeks to  promote greater participation of female students in STEAM  disciplines at the higher education level. 

In this sense, understanding the factors that influence  STEM subject choice is vital to encourage greater STEM  participation and increase the number of STEM graduates and  the prevalence of STEM skills in the labour force [11]. 

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However, there is a notable scarcity of research examining the  underlying causes of the declining interest in STEM among  students, particularly when they are about to enter the tertiary  level [12]. To fill this gap, it is imperative to develop a deeper  comprehension of young individuals’ perceptions regarding  STEM careers. Consequently, the primary objective of this  study is to offer an overview of the Portuguese context by  investigating the level of interest in STEM careers among  upper secondary students in Portugal, following educational  reforms aimed at strengthening STEM education.  Specifically, the study will focus on addressing the following  research questions (RQ): 

RQ1) What is the level of interest among secondary-school  students in STEM careers?  

RQ2) Do secondary-school students’ interest in STEM careers  differ across STEM fields?  

RQ3) Does the interest in STEM careers among secondary school students differ in terms of gender? 

1. INTEREST IN STEM CAREERS 

The “term interest describes the mind-set characterised by  a need to give selective attention to something that is  significant to a person such as an activity, goal or subject” (p.  69, [13]). Interest is one of the strongest predictors of STEM  enrolment behaviour [13] and career orientation [14].  Furthermore, Gender represents a potential influential factor  on students’ STEM interests and career aspirations, with  existing research indicating a tendency for male students to  show more inclination towards STEM fields [15, 16]. On the  other hand, female students often display a stronger interest in  arts and education fields [15, 16]. This gender pattern is  particularly noticeable in engineering, which tends to attract  more male students [16], whereas females lean more towards  medical/health and biology careers [17, 18]. 

In order to study the factors that influence interest in  STEM careers, several instruments have been tested. Tyler Wood et al. [19] developed two instruments, the STEM  semantic survey and the STEM career questionnaire, which  were validated using a sample encompassing junior high  school students through to adults. The findings of their  research demonstrate the efficacy of these instruments in  gauging students’ interest in STEM. However, it is important  to note that while these surveys have been successful in 

measuring interest levels, they do not explicitly elucidate the  factors that influence students’ interest in pursuing STEM  careers.  

STEM Career Interest Survey (STEM-CIS) was developed  by Kier et al. [20] to assess students’ interest in STEM  careers. The instrument was based on key aspects of the  social cognitive career theory [21] (e.g., self-efficacy,  outcome expectations, personal inputs, and contextual  supports and barriers). STEM-CIS was used to gather data on  the validity and interest of students residing in rural  Southeastern America towards STEM careers. Additionally,  research has been conducted in Turkey to test the STEM-CIS  instrument validity and reliability of the STEM-CIS  instrument using the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)  technique [22]. Several studies used this instrument to  determine students’ interest in STEM. Among them, Dönmez  and Idin [23] applied it to 534 middle school students. The  results indicate that middle school students’ STEM career  interests are influenced by factors such as self-efficacy,  

personal goals, outcome expectations, interest in science,  contextual support, and individual inputs. The study also revealed that STEM career interest is not dependent on  gender, but it does vary according to the students’ grade level.  Also, in Turkey, another study [24] applied this instrument to  a larger sample (892 students) and determined that the  interest of male students in STEM careers is more positive  compared to the female students. Another study conducted by  Ünlü and Dökme [25] utilized the STEM-CIS instrument to  examine a sample of comparable size from various regions of  the country. The findings indicated that students’ interest in  STEM careers varied significantly based on their gender,  geographical location, and grade levels. However, no  significant differences were observed in relation to their  parents’ educational status or family income levels. 

A pivotal aspect involves identifying the factors that foster  interest in STEM careers among high school students who are  in the crucial stage of exploring their career interest [26, 27],  as several studies focused on this particular period. For  instance, Sadler et al. [28] conducted a retrospective cohort  study to exemplify how the interests in STEM career of high  school students change. The study findings by Robnett and  Leaper [26] showed a gender difference in STEM-related  career interest in high school and suggested that social  identities and self-concepts play a substantial role in shaping  the STEM career choices of young individuals. Ketenci et al  [28] and Myint and Robnett [29] also reported gender  differences choice on STEM career attainment. Kızılay and  Yamak [30] employed the Career Interest Scale for STEM  Fields [31] as data collection tool and revealed a gender  disparity among high school students, in favour of male  students. 

III. METHODOLOGY 

1. Design 

The present study employed a descriptive survey model to  investigate the STEM Career Interest of secondary school  students in Portugal. Data were gathered using the STEM  Career Interest Survey (STEM-CIS) [20]. 

1. Participants 

A non-probabilistic (convenience) sampling approach was  utilized to select participants from two 12th-grade classes  attending the Chemistry subject during the academic year  2022/2023. The initial sample size consisted of 212 students,  but after exclusions, the final sample included 190 students,  representing 89.6% of the students. In terms of gender  distribution, 44.2% (84 students) were male, while 55.8%  (106 students) were female, with an average age of 17.2 years. 

1. Instruments 

The questionnaire, adapted for use in Portuguese,  comprised four discipline-specific subscales: Science (S),  Technology (T), Engineering (E), and Mathematics (M). Each  subscale consisted of 10 items, resulting in a total of 40  questions answered on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from  ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’.  

1. Data analysis 

The questionnaire results were analysed using Jamovi  2.2.5.0 software. To analyse the questionnaire’s psychometric  characteristics, an exploratory factor analysis was carried out  using minimum residuals extraction. Reliability was  examined by calculating Cronbach’s alpha (α) in the 

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XXV Simpósio Internacional de Informática Educativa 

questionnaire and all subscales. To address RQ1 and RQ2,  descriptive statistics were examined, and the average score  was obtained for each subscale of the questionnaire. The  normality assumption of the data was checked using the  Shapiro-Wilk test. It was found that some subscales did not  follow a normal distribution (p ≤ 0.05), as a result, non 

parametric tests (Friedman test and pairwise comparisons  through Durbin-Conover test) were employed to determine  differences in students’ interests across the STEM fields.  Regarding RQ3, to assess the effect of gender on STEM career  interest within specific STEM fields, independent samples t 

tests were used if the assumptions of normality (Shapiro-Wilk test) and equal variances (Levene’s test) were met. Otherwise,  the Mann-Whitney U test was employed. The effect size was  calculated using Cohen’s d value. The magnitude of the effect  size was assessed independently of the d sign and can take on  any value. Successively, the d values of 0.2, 0.5, and 0.8 are  evaluated as representing small, medium, and large effects,  respectively [32]. The statistical analyses used a confidence  level of 95% (p < 0.05). 

1. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 

To assess the levels of STEM career interest among  secondary-school students (RQ1), a descriptive analysis was  performed. Table I displays the minimum (Min) and  maximum scores (Max), along with the mean (M) and  standard deviation (SD), obtained by students on the  discipline-specific subscales of the STEM-CIS.  

TABLE I. DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF  THE SECONDARY–SCHOOL STUDENTS’ STEM CAREER INTEREST 

The career interest of the secondary-school students was  observed to vary across different areas, with technology,  mathematics, science, and engineering ranking from the  highest to the lowest in terms of preference.  

Regarding RQ2, the Friedman test showed that the  secondary-school students’ STEM career interests displayed  statistically significant differences in terms of STEM fields  (X2 (3) = 37.3; p < 0.001). To identify the specific STEM fields  associated with this observed difference, a Post hoc Durbin 

Conover test was performed. The results of this analysis are  presented in Table II. 

TABLE II. RESULTS OF THE PAIRWISE  COMPARISONS (DURBIN-CONOVER TEST) 

*p. <0.05 

Based on the findings presented in Table II, no significant  difference was observed between the career interest in science  and the career interest in mathematics and technology among  secondary-school students. However, a significant difference  was detected in the interest levels of engineering fields  compared to mathematics, technology, and science, favouring  the latter areas.  

In other studies that utilized the STEM-CIS to assess  students’ career interests across various STEM fields, it was  found that interest in engineering careers tended to be lower  when compared to mathematics, science, and technology [24,  33].This result is not surprising, as students typically receive  limited (or none) education related to engineering in school  [24], and a significant number of them are not familiar with  careers in this field, resulting in an unclear vision about the  field of engineering [34]. Furthermore, negative stereotypes  associated with engineers, such as the perception that they are  nerds or that they must be geniuses, contribute to this lack of  knowledge [24, 33]. Consequently, pre-university students  may face challenges in making informed decisions when  considering engineering as a potential career path [34]. 

In order to attract students to STEM careers, such as  engineering, there is a need to build better understanding of  young people’s perceptions of STEM as well as to develop  appropriate programs, activities or interventions that will  positively influence their perceptions of STEM [35, 36].  Research have demonstrated that effective teaching practices  within and beyond the classroom, as well as after-school  activities, play a significant role in shaping perceptions of  STEM careers [35, 37]. Consequently, it is crucial to prioritize  the enhancement of professional development opportunities  for teachers, considering their influential role in shaping  students’ perceptions. Providing teachers with strategies to  facilitate student learning of engineering concepts, such as the  engineering design process, has the potential to enhance their  ability to integrate engineering principles into the classroom,  and may positively impact students’ interest and engagement  in engineering-related fields [34]. 

To evaluated if the interest in STEM careers among  secondary-school students differ in terms of gender (RQ3),  independent sample t test or Mann-Whitney U test were used,  and its results are presenting in Table III. The assumptions of  normality (Sharipo-Wilk test), and equal variances (Levene’s 

test) were checked to all subscales. Thus, the science subscale  presented normal distribution [W (188) = 0.987; p = 0.068] and  equal variances [F (1,188) = 0.927; p = 0.337]. Similarly, the  mathematics subscale presented a normal distribution [W (188) 

= 0.989; p = 0.158] and equal variances [F (1,188) = 0.126; p =  0.723]. However, the technology subscale violated the  assumption of normality [W (188) = 0.983; p =0.023] and  showed homogeneity of variances [F (1,188) = 0.659; p = 0.418].  Lastly, engineering subscale violated the assumption of  normality [W (188) = 0.972; p < 0.001] and the assumption of  equal variances [F (1,188) = 6.12; p = 0.014]. 

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TABLE III. DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF  THE SECONDARY–SCHOOL STUDENTS’ STEM CAREER INTEREST 

Note: M= Mean; SD= Standard Deviation; t = independent sample t test; U= Mann-Whitney; p.= level  of significance; *p. <0.05; ª Rank Biserial correlation.  

According to Table III, a statistically significant  difference, in terms of gender, was observed in students’ career  interest across the fields of science [t (188) = 2.51; p = 0.013],  technology [U (188) = 3505; p = 0.012] and engineering [U (188)  = 3465; p = 0.012]. The effect sizes indicated that the gender  effect on career interest in science, technology, and  engineering fields was of a small magnitude. 

This study revealed that female students had less interest  in the careers related to engineering and technology than male  students. By other side, female students had more interest in  the careers related to science than male students. These  findings are consistent with other research studies that have  identified a gendered pattern in STEM fields, indicating that  females tend to prefer careers in medical/health and biology,  while males are more inclined towards engineering and  computer sciences [3, 6, 16, 17, 18]. 

These differences can be attributed to traditional  perceptions of gender roles and identities as well as the  cultural values sometimes associated with specific professions  [26]. Many female students do not know much about the  engineering field, and many are thought to be more interested  in leading their careers on the way to serve for the society [38].  Concerns about not fitting the stereotypical image of a STEM  professional and doubts regarding their own abilities to  succeed in STEM fields contribute to women’s apprehension  [39]. Moreover, numerous female students perceive  engineering as “difficult,” “boring,” and predominantly male oriented, often associating it solely with construction work  [40]. Consequently, these outdated and invalid stereotypes  have a detrimental impact on females’ interest and attitudes  towards STEM fields and careers [41].  

Other studies have indicated that female students tend to  exhibit lower interest in engineering compared to their male  counterparts, potentially due to the lack of sufficient role  models who have pursued STEM careers [42]. The decision  of a female student to pursue a STEM career can be influenced  by the presence of female role models, such as teachers or  relatives [25, 41, 42, 43]. According to Dubetz and Wilson  [43], secondary school female students who participate in  summer camp activities organized by universities and guided  by female role models in science and mathematics exhibit a  

higher level of interest in STEM careers in higher education.  Additionally, Ünlü and Dökme [25] stated that individuals  who have family members with STEM careers have an  increased likelihood of choosing STEM fields. 

1. CONCLUSIONS 

The main objective of this study was to explore the level  of interest in STEM careers among upper secondary students  in Portugal, using the STEM Career Interest Survey.  However, there are some limitations. The low number of  participants is a limitation that may affect the generalisability  of the results. Quantitative research often focuses on  identifying patterns and relationships but may not capture the  nuances and complexities of individuals’ experiences or  perspectives. Therefore, the study may not have provided a  complete understanding of the issues surrounding STEM  career choice.  

Despite these limitations, the results of the study provided  an overview of the interest of Portuguese secondary school  students in STEM careers, following educational reforms  aimed at strengthening STEM education. The results showed  a relatively low interest in engineering careers compared to  mathematics, science, and technology among secondary  school students. To attract students to STEM careers,  especially engineering, it is imperative to develop effective  interventions, aligned with ongoing initiatives, aimed at  influencing their perceptions of STEM fields.  

The results of the study also highlighted a gender gap in  students’ interest in science, engineering, and technology related careers. To rectify this situation and bridge the gender  gap, it is important to introduce STEM education initiatives  within educational institutions and to extend them to other  settings. To meet this need, it is therefore essential to prioritise  the improvement of professional development opportunities  for teachers, given their influential role in shaping students’  perceptions. 

The identified findings have valuable implications for  various stakeholders in the education sector, including  education policy makers, curriculum developers and teachers.  These findings underline the importance of STEM education  in fostering and nurturing students’ interest in STEM fields,  but Portugal can do more and better. As such, they can serve  as an important guide for education policy makers in  designing policies that promote and prioritise STEM  education. Curriculum developers can use these findings to  design and improve STEM curricula, ensuring that they are  aligned with students’ interests and address the gender gap in  STEM career preferences. Finally, teachers can benefit from  this knowledge by incorporating engaging STEM activities  and promoting female role models to inspire and encourage  students, particularly female students, to pursue STEM  subjects.  

Future research should consider conducting qualitative  studies to obtain more detailed results. In addition, researchers  could focus on variables other than gender, such as where  participants live, what grade they are in, and what level of  education their parents have. By examining these additional  variables, researchers can explore how different factors  influence the decision-making process regarding STEM  careers.

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XXV Simpósio Internacional de Informática Educativa 

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