Which Factors Affect Students to Choose Their Career in the STEM Field?: A Semantic Survey Didit Ardianto, Bibin Rubini, Indarini Dwi Pursitasari
Program Studi Pendidikan IPA, Sekolah Pascasarjana, Universitas Pakuan, Jl. Pakuan No. 1, Bogor - Jawa Barat
Abstract
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has recently become a remarkable research topic, especially in developed countries as a result of the skilled workforce required in the fields of the STEM. Analysis of student interest in STEM careers is an important topic to studied especially in Indonesia. The purpose of this study was a survey students^ interest in STEM Careers. The research subjects involved in this study were grade VII students consisting of 71 girls and 34 boys. The instrument used in this research is an adaptation of the STEM Career Interest Survey (STEM-CIS) instrument which consists of 44 questions. STEM-CIS is associated with social cognitive career theory (SCCT) which consists of five aspects, including: self efficacy, personal goals, outcome expectations, personal input, contextual support. The results showed that most of the students had a high enough interest in a career in science. However, they are uncertain to choose jobs in mathematics and technology. In addition, they are also not very interested in choosing a job in engineering for their future. The findings of this study also show that students^ interest in a STEM career is influenced by their parents. Therefore, it is important for practitioners in schools to introduce the importance of the STEM field. Early introduction in school is expected to form awareness for students about the importance of this field in knowing future work.
