PERC 2013 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Gender-specific career outcome expectations in college vs. interest in pursuing careers in sciences and engineering |
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| Abstract: | Using factor analysis we investigated the career outcome expectations of a large sample of college students. From the fifteen items analyzed we extracted eight factors covering over 50% of the total data variance. Upon factor identification we found that while some factors are general, others are gender specific. Among the latter ones, the "communal values" factor is associated with female gender and life sciences career interest, and negatively associated with engineering career interest. Also, the "innovator" factor is associated with male gender and interest in physical sciences and engineering careers. Another factor strongly associated with male gender is "career as means to social recognition". These results are in line with existing research pointing to different goals for males and females when choosing careers, females being more oriented toward communal behavior and connection with real life, while males are more attracted by social recognition and power. |
| Abstract Type: | Contributed Poster Presentation |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Florin Lung Department of Physics and Astronomy, Mississippi State University 125 Hilbun Hall P.O. Drawer 5167 Mississippi State, MS 39762 Phone: 864-650-2029 |
| Co-Author(s) and Co-Presenter(s) |
Geoff Potvin, Department of Engineering and Science Education, Clemson University Gerhard Sonnert, Science Education Department, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Philip M. Sadler, Science Education Department, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics |
Contributed Poster | |
| Contributed Poster: | Download the Contributed Poster |
