What matters when young people choose to study science? Maria Vetleseter Bøe NUAS, Tromsø 27. oktober 2011 ©dreamstime

I don’t know, ‘cause there’s so much I’d like to be. designer, therapist, manager or work in a fashion magazine (where they have horoscopes) media/TV, astronaut, pilot, work on an oil rig, become a stylist, designing clothes +++ lawyer, police officer, astronaut, dancer or journalist. Social worker, actress, singer or work in a pet shop and help animals!

The research group re:K:rutt… What motivates young people’s educational choices? How can more people be motivated to study science? This is exactly the task that our research group here at the University of Oslo and the National Centre for Science Education has taken on. We are currently around 6-8 persons more or less actively involved in this group, and you will hear from most of us during today. Our research group is involved in two large umbrella projects, the Norwegian Lily and the European/international IRIS. In addition, we are involved in a number of smaller-scale, related projects, notably ”write your choice” where female STEM students give their ”life stories” related to choice of STEM education.

This is exactly the task that our research group here at the University of Oslo and the National Centre for Science Education has taken on. We are currently around 6-8 persons more or less actively involved in this group, and you will hear from most of us during today. Our research group is involved in two large umbrella projects, the Norwegian Lily and the European/international IRIS. In addition, we are involved in a number of smaller-scale, related projects, notably ”write your choice” where female STEM students give their ”life stories” related to choice of STEM education. Lily

www.naturfagsenteret.no/vilje-con-valg/dokumenter.html

Det nasjonale fakultetsmøtet for realfag FISKERI- OG HAVBRUKSNÆRINGENS FORSKNINGSFOND

Trying to understand educational choice Will the profession suit me and my identity? Will I get a job? Does the education suit my goals and ideals? Am I clever enough? What do these professionals actually do at work? Am I really interested? IN order to do something about these challenges, we need to understand all the considerations and experiences that contribute to a young person’s choice of education. How much will it cost me in time and effort? Will I find it meaningful? Redbaron/ Dreamstime

Eccles et al. expectancy-value model of achievement-related choices (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002)

Harry Potter and the Model of Eccles

Educational choices are influenced by Subjective value of the subjects Interest-enjoyment value Attainment value Utility value Relative cost Expectation of success in the subjects (Eccles, Adler, Futterman, Goff, Meece, & Midgley, 1983)

Expectation of success Will I be able to do this? Neville Longbottom is insecure, clumsy and forgetful, and has low expectation of success in most subjects.

Interest-enjoyment value Will I enjoy it? Harry is very interested in defensive spells, and enjoys the subject Defense Against the Dark Arts greatly.

Attainment value Does the subject suit me, my goals and my identity? Hermione Granger is very clever, she loves books and schoolwork. However, she quit the subject Divination (fortune telling), because she meant it was wholly guesswork. It did not suit her identity as intelligent and rational.

Utility value Can this help me reach some other goals? Harry hates Professor Snape and his subject Potions. But he still chooses to continue, because the subject is required if he wants to become an Auror who catches dark wizards.

Relative cost What will this cost me compared to other things I could’ve been doing? The magical sport Quidditch costs a lot of time and effort for training. And the worst cost of all for Ron Weasly is performance anxiety.

The LILY study Lily 14,000 respondents Upper secondary school: Students in Year 12 Higher education: 1st year students  science, technology, engineering and mathematics  non-science students for comparison Data collected in autumn 2008 Lily

How important are the following factors for you in your future job? Not important Very important 1 2 3 4

Working with something I am interested in Very important Not important women men

Using my talents and abilities Very important Not important women men

Developing myself Very important Not important women men

Everyone wants to do something interesting, fulfilling and self-realising.

I want to do something interesting and develop myself I want to do something interesting and develop myself. That’s why I chose teaching. I want to do something interesting and develop myself. That’s why I chose chemistry. I want to do something interesting and develop myself. That’s why I chose engineering. I want to do something interesting and develop myself. That’s why I chose design.

The Lily study in upper secondary school ©dreamstime

in upper secondary school The LILY study in upper secondary school (specialisation in general studies) Students in Year 12 (17 years). Respondents had recently chosen their programme area (subject combination) for the last two years of upper secondary school. Representative sample of 1628 students Science Non-Science

What matters for choosing science in upper secondary school?

Interests and identity matters Not important Very important Science non-Science

(Student about what inspired her choice of programme area) Interest «I am interested in all sorts of things, […] including science and a general curiosity about how things work.» (Student about what inspired her choice of programme area)

Identity and self-realisation «I am near-sighted myself, and see an optitian regularly. It seems like an exciting job that suits me.» (Student about what inspired her choice of programme area)

The utility value of science matters Not important Very important Science non-Science

(Student about what inspired his choice Utility «[…] to get as many options as possible to choose from, so that I can find something I can work with and enjoy.» (Student about what inspired his choice of programme area)

How can we attract more students to study science in higher education?

© Andres Rodriguez @ dreamstime

Meet the expectations and maintain the interest. Mention the bigger plate of dishes to choose from. Ref. to Jacque Eccles.

Help the students see themselves in a science career. Mention the bigger plate of dishes to choose from. Ref. to Jacque Eccles.

Jørgen

Doctor Smash Engineer Crispo

Twist

Renewable energy researcher Medical physicist Renewable energy researcher Orthopedics engineer Nature management professional Teacher trainer Jørgen Environmental scientist Reservoir engineer Finance analyst

Use the opportunity to present many different career options that may interesting, meaningful and self-realising to different students. Twist Mention the bigger plate of dishes to choose from. Ref. to Jacque Eccles.

How do they experience higher education? Lily and IRIS ©dreamstime

Lily in higher education Disagree Agree Nursing Health Engineering Economy Graduate engineering Computer science Natural science Maths and physics Travel and tourism © Yury Arcurs @dreamstime

What do they say after 8-10 months? Clip art - results for Norwegian students

«The overall experience of being a student in this programme» Computer science Biology and biotechnology Mathematics, physics, chemistry Engineering Girls Boys Det er absolutt å anbefale! Ingeniørstudiene ved HiO er mye bedre enn ventet, med utfordringer og hjelp til de som trenger. Det er en hel verden av kjemi som venter å bli oppdaget og brukt av deg! Mye praktisk arbeid ved siden av teorien, som hjelper på forståelsen! Effektstørrelse 0,4 mellom jenter og gutter på mat/fys/kjem Better than expected Worse than expected ”..I am very satisfied with my courses”

«Social relations with fellow students» Computer science Biology and biotechnology Mathematics, physics, chemistry Engineering Girls Boys Better than expected Worse than expected ”Sosiale relasjoner til dine medstudenter” Effektstørrelse 0,35 mellom gutter og jenter på informatikk ”Generally a good social life and a fun freshman’s week!”

«I feel that my course suits the kind of person that I am» Girls Boys Computer science Biology and biotechnology Mathematics, physics, chemistry Engineering SMÅ forskjeller mellom studieprogrammer og kjønn: Effektstørrelse mellom (begge kjønn på bio) og (begge kjønn på ingeniørfag): 0,24 Jeg ville valge det som er nyttig og gunstig for samfunnet og hele verden, samtidig som jeg gjerne ville jobbe innenfor forskning. Jeg ville være i action på en måte. Jeg ville skape nye medisiner, som er billigere og mer effektive, jeg ville bekjempe sult og sykdommer, jeg ville jobbe mer tankemessig enn fysisk. Og jeg fortsatt vil det og skal gjøre det :) Jeg har alltid vært skoleflink, og hadde egentlig ikke peiling på hva jeg ville studere (luksusproblemer er også problemer). Det sto mellom fysikk, matte, medisin, hisorie og illustratørlinjen. Det som gjorde at valget falt på fysikk var nok det at jeg har lyst til å hjelpe til med å løse miljøkrisen. Helt siden Blekkulf lærte meg verdien av å plukke boss har jeg hatt lyst til å bruke hodet *vi har bare en klooode*.Fornybar energi har alltid vært interessant for meg, og dermed ble det fysikk. Jeg har mange interesser, noe som gav meg et luksusproblem da det kom til valg av studie. Men så sa broren min at jeg burde sjekke ut kommunikasjonsteknologi, og jeg tenkte med det samme JA. Muligheten til utenlandsopphold, (…) studiemiljø, (…) muligheter til sommerjobb, jobb etter studiet. Alle disse tingene bare ropte KOM HIT! And so I did. Strongly agree Strongly disagree ”...this is what I find most exciting, this is what I want to become good at, and what I want to work with”

«How interesting you find the content of the course» Computer science Biology and biotechnology Mathematics, physics, chemistry Engineering Girls Boys Better than expected Worse than expected Hvor interessant du opplever innholdet i studiet Effektstr Cohens d = 0,32 mellom gutter og jenter på bio Effektstr Cohens d = 0,14 mellom (alle på bio) og (alle ing) ”You can put together your own combi-nation of courses, and you will always find something you find interesting!”

Expectation of success: «I learn easily the subject matter in this course» Computer science Biology and biotechnology Mathematics, physics, chemistry Engineering Girls Boys Strongly agree Strongly disagree Jeg lærer lett fagstoffet på dette studiet Her er det klare forskjeller mellom kjønnene på informatikk og mat/fys/kjem. Effektstr informatikk jenter/gutter: Cohens d = 0,63 ”I chose from what I felt I could master. Because when I master something, it automatically gets more fun. I don’t want to study something I don’t feel I can understand.”

«The overall quality of the teaching» Computer science Biology and biotechnology Mathematics, physics, chemistry Engineering Girls Boys Den samlede kvaliteten på undervisningen Gutter har en tendens til å være mer positive enn jenter. Jenter vs gutter på bio: Cohens d = 0,43 Bio-studenter har en veldig liten tendens til å være mer positive enn ingeniørstudenter: (alle bio) vs (alle tre ing): Cohens d = 0,24 Better than expected Worse than expected ”The lecturers are very sloppy..”

«I get personal feed-back from lecturers and teachers when I need it» Computer science Biology and biotechnology Mathematics, physics, chemistry Engineering Girls Boys Særlig på bio er det her en tydelig forskjell mellom jenter og gutter. Cohens d = 0,59 Strongly agree Strongly disagree ”You have to do most of the learning yourself…”

«The effort you have to spend on studying» Computer science Biology and biotechnology Mathematics, physics, chemistry Engineering Girls Boys Tid og krefter du må bruke på studiet Gutter/jenter informatikk: Cohens d =0,3 er et veldig vanskelig studie (…) All tid eller meste av den går til studier, men likevel er det sosialt fordi man sitter og jobber sammen og samarbeider Better than expected Worse than expected ”You have to work hard from day one. Much steeper learning curve than expected”

«The effort you have to spend on studying» It is very tough. The first two years mainly consist of difficuilt subjects that don’t seem relevant to the study at large, and this can easily kill motivation. Clip art Norwegian IRIS respondent

After 8-10 months, students are … … happy with social life. … quite happy with the study as interesting and enjoyable. … moderate in their expectation of success. … not quite satisfied with teaching and follow-up. … surprised at the cost of the study in terms of time and effort. © Prometeus @ dreamstime

How do we support 1st year students and prevent drop-out?

Support social and academic integration by taking advantage of their social relations and their high interest. Mention the bigger plate of dishes to choose from. Ref. to Jacque Eccles. ©dreamstime

Create opportunities for interaction between students and teaching staff. Mention the bigger plate of dishes to choose from. Ref. to Jacque Eccles. © monkeybusinessimages @ dreamstime

Support students’ expectation of success. Mention the bigger plate of dishes to choose from. Ref. to Jacque Eccles. ©dreamstime

Prepare students for the hard work, but make clear that help and follow-up will be available! Mention the bigger plate of dishes to choose from. Ref. to Jacque Eccles. © Hjalmeida @ dreamstime

Mathematics as a key drop-out factor “meaningless” “demanding” “dull” “difficult”

From interviews with dropped-out students Difficulty: «I struggled, had no sense of mastery, too abstract, failed.» Lack of previous knowledge: «Even though I had [in-depth upper secondary mathematics], it was at least one division up.» Results from PhD-student Helge Brovold, RENATE

«The enjoyment was great, but the mathematics was even bigger!»

Japp

Technology, organization and learning »» The study programme gives you knowledge about organizations and organizational changes. We link knowledge from several disciplines to form an innovative and exciting new field. Hvordan kan vi best skape endringsprosesser for grupper og individer i organisasjoner? Studieprogrammet Teknologi, organisasjon og læring gir deg kunnskaper om organisasjoner og organisasjonsendringer. Studieprogrammet har spesielt fokus på informasjonsteknologiens rolle i denne sammenhengen. Studiet passer for deg som er interessert i å forstå og bidra til endring i organisasjoner. Dette er et nytt studium ved Universitetet i Oslo. Vi kobler kunnskap fra flere fag sammen til et nyskapende og spennende fagområde. Fra informatikk får du kunnskap om arbeid med og design av IT. Fra sosiologien får du kunnskap om organisasjoner - spesielt organisasjoner hvor det produseres kunnskap. Fra pedagogikken får du kunnskap om læringsprosesser som foregår i arbeidslivet. Disse fagområdene spiller sammen når bedrifter forandrer seg, og det er kunnskaper om dette samspillet som er sentralt i studiet.

… I was suprised, then, about how much math there was.   And the informatics, that’s what put me off a bit, ‘cause I wasn’t counting on that. And I am not good at that. I just found out that this, I can’t do this. … from what was on the website, I got the impression that there wasn’t going to be that much [ICT]. What impression of the study did you get from what you read? That it would be … I don’t know … that it would suit me, ‘cause I want to work with management and organization, in that sense it seemed really interesting. … and that bit with technology … informatics, I felt that wasn’t really clear on the website. And had I known that, I wouldn’t have started ‘cause I’m not at all good at those kind of subjects.

Thank you! www.naturfagsenteret.no/vilje-con-valg Maria Vetleseter Bøe g.m.v.boe@naturfagsenteret.no