engleski

STEM Gender Stereotype Endorsement in students and their mothers: Relations with Students’ STEM Motivation

There is a widespread belief that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) field is more suitable for men than for women and that men are more talented for it, and different actors involved in the educational process – parents, teachers, and children themselves – also hold this belief to a certain extent. The existing research indicates that endorsement of such belief’s shapes children’s motivation for STEM. At the same time, research that investigates both mother’s and child’s gender stereotype beliefs, the interplay between them, and the relation of gender stereotype beliefs with child’s motivation for STEM school field and STEM occupational choices are needed to provide further insights. In that context, the aim of the present study is to elaborate the relationship between mothers’ and children’s gender stereotype beliefs and its relationship with motivational beliefs of boys and girls regarding different STEM areas. Participants in the study were 416 seventh grade students (51% boys: average age 13.45 (SD = 0.33) years), and their mothers (average age 43.35 (SD = 4.88) years). Participants filled out questionnaires that measured gender stereotype endorsement that STEM is more appropriate for boys and motivational beliefs (self-competence beliefs and subjective task values) regarding STEM school subjects (e.g., Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Informatics, Technical Education and Mathematics) and corresponding occupations. Measured research constructs are mostly operationalized in the context of Eccles et al. (1983) expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation. Structural equation modelling produced satisfactory fitted model in which mother’s endorsement of STEM gender stereotype beliefs predicted gender stereotype endorsement of boys and girls and their motivation towards STEM. Mother’s stronger gender stereotype beliefs that boys are more talented for STEM predicts stronger endorsement of such beliefs for girls, while they are not significantly correlated with boys’ beliefs. Also, such gender stereotyped beliefs of mothers predict positive motivational outcomes for boys and negative for girls. In the same way, stronger personal endorsement of gender stereotype beliefs about STEM predicts positive STEM motivational outcome for boys, while negative for girls. The outcome of the study indicates that mother’s, as well as students’ personal, endorsement of gender stereotyped beliefs about STEM determines both boys’ and girls’ motivation for STEM school domain and occupations – it facilitates boys’ and hinders girls’ STEM motivation. These findings emphasize the importance of designing interventions that would try to mitigate gender stereotype beliefs of boys and girls before important educational transitions, such as the enrolment of secondary school, occur.

gender stereotypes, motivation, self-competence, subjective task value, STEM

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