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Predicting STEM Major and Career Intentions With the Theory of Planned Behavior
Author(s) -
Moore Raeal,
Burrus Jeremy
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the career development quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.846
H-Index - 53
eISSN - 2161-0045
pISSN - 0889-4019
DOI - 10.1002/cdq.12177
Subject(s) - theory of planned behavior , psychology , social psychology , intervention (counseling) , control (management) , developmental psychology , applied psychology , management , psychiatry , economics
This investigation predicted ACT‐tested 11th‐ and 12th‐grade students’ intentions to choose science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) college majors and STEM careers using a measure of mathematics beliefs and attitudes based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991). The TPB states that the best predictor of behavior is the intention to perform that behavior, and intention is influenced by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Students ( N = 1,958) from 11th grade (48%) or 12th grade (52%) completed the measure and also indicated their intended college major and career. Results revealed that TPB predicted STEM major and career choice incrementally over a host of additional variables. More specifically, attitude and intention were the most predictive components. Although results were similar for male and female participants, attitudes and interests were somewhat more predictive for female than for male participants. Intervention possibilities and implications for future research were discussed.