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Analysis of Factors Influencing Interest in STEM Career: Comparison between American and Turkish High School Students with High Ability.
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Bahar, Abdulkadir Yasir Adiguzel, Tufan |
| Copyright Year | 2016 |
| Abstract | Most innovations that enhance the quality of life come from contribution of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) related fields (Kuenzi, 2008). As the technology advances, leadership, influence, and economy of nations are increasingly determined by effective practice of STEM-related skills. STEM education is beliefs and skills that are developed in collaboration by intersecting various subjects in STEM (Corlu, Capraro & Capraro, 2014). Therefore, concepts in STEM focus on finding solutions to the global issues and put emphasis on project-based systems of education. The main reason for developing STEM education is to enhance technological development as well as research and innovation (Uttal & Cohen, 2012).The current global economy, which is increasingly shifting toward technological development, has posed a great challenge to the education system to produce skillful experts to fit into the job market (Brown et al., 2011). A further impetus in demand for STEM skills is the emerging practice of the idea of knowledge economy, which requires the most specialized skills to take to fill the vacancies. The significance of technology is its ability to enhance the competitiveness of a nation, and support the quality of jobs and exports. In addition, the demand for STEM experts extends to other fields because of diffusion of technology to non-STEM fields (Nicholls et al., 2007). Other significances of technological development include enhancing the living conditions of the community and its working conditions. However, workers and the society can only benefit from the advantages produced by technological innovation by acquiring appropriate skills and knowledge, which are necessities for effective working in the STEM-related jobs (Bybee, 2010a). This reveals that the competitiveness of a nation is determined by its ability to innovate and develop new means of working.In America, 20 percent of all vacancies require STEMrelated experts and it is projected to increase. For instance, there are a potential 2.8 million job' openings by 2018 (Hawley et al., 2013). The gap in employment relates to a four percent increase in the number of vacancies, which is opposed to two percent increase in STEM graduates. Turkey also experiences a similar scenario (Maltese, 2008). In this case, Turkey has 18 percent of all national vacancies for STEM-related experts. The number of graduates in the same field is growing by three percent while the output of graduates is growing by 1.5 percent (Saxton et al., 2014). The disparity in growth in the graduate and STEM-related vacancies indicates a widening gap, which suggests an increasing level of demand for STEM experts. The chances of employments are high for STEM graduates. For instance, Uttal and Cohen (2012) revealed that graduates with STEM-related areas have 84 percent more chances of s쳮ding in life compared to other graduates from other fields. Additionally, STEM jobs are priced highly to motivate people to seek them. For instance, petroleum engineers earn five times the amount earned by counseling psychologists. Furthermore, whereas the demand for specializing in STEM-related fields increases, the enrollment at the graduate level is continuously recording a decline, which creates employment gaps.Actions for STEM MotivationThe adaption of the acronym STEM was done in the 1990s by National Science Foundation. Its popularity emerged after its 2001 mention with the National Science Foundations call and the relevance of STEM has continuously increased with the development in technology and globalization. In practice, the origin of STEM can be traced back to the19th century (Hawley et al., 2013). Major inventions and progress in science and technology during 19th and 20lh century, including the launch of Sputnik, the Russian satellite, in 1957, ignited rigorous competitions among developed nations (Milgram, 20 11), which led more focus on STEM fields. By the mid-1980s, American Engineering Commission was recording 80 thousand graduates in STEM-related majors annually. … |
| Starting Page | 64 |
| Ending Page | 69 |
| Page Count | 6 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 17 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.jstem.org/jstem/index.php/JSTEM/article/download/2122/1777 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
