Understanding Turkish students' STEM career aspirations, STEM hopes and goals, parental perception, and cultural capital: A path analysis

Hakan Ulum; Menşure Alkış Küçükaydın; Hakan Ulum; Menşure Alkış Küçükaydın

doi:10.3934/steme.2024021

STEM Education

2024, Volume 4, Issue 4: 364-380. doi: 10.3934/steme.2024021

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Research article Special Issues

Understanding Turkish students' STEM career aspirations, STEM hopes and goals, parental perception, and cultural capital: A path analysis

Necmettin Erbakan University, Türkiye; hakanulum@gmail.com, mensurealkis@hotmail.com

Academic Editor: Jun Shen

Received: 10 July 2024 Revised: 14 August 2024 Accepted: 16 August 2024 Published: 03 September 2024

Developing students' career goals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is a high priority in Turkey and around the world. Many educational investments are being made in the country, as shown in the development goals. It is important to understand the variables that may be related to these goals to best support students on their career path. We examined the relationships between STEM career aspirations, hopes, and goals in STEM, cultural capital, and perceived parental expectations in a Turkish sample (n = 633). The findings showed positive relationships between STEM cultural capital, perceived parental support, and STEM-related hopes and goals. In addition, parental perception influenced STEM career aspirations both directly and indirectly. In the research model, the greatest effect was between parental support and STEM hopes and goals. These discoveries provide insight for educational policymakers, parents, and teachers who are helping students develop STEM career aspirations.
- cultural capital,
- hopes and goals in STEM,
- STEM career aspirations,
- parental expectations
Citation: Hakan Ulum, Menşure Alkış Küçükaydın. Understanding Turkish students' STEM career aspirations, STEM hopes and goals, parental perception, and cultural capital: A path analysis[J]. STEM Education, 2024, 4(4): 364-380. doi: 10.3934/steme.2024021

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Abstract

Developing students' career goals in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is a high priority in Turkey and around the world. Many educational investments are being made in the country, as shown in the development goals. It is important to understand the variables that may be related to these goals to best support students on their career path. We examined the relationships between STEM career aspirations, hopes, and goals in STEM, cultural capital, and perceived parental expectations in a Turkish sample (n = 633). The findings showed positive relationships between STEM cultural capital, perceived parental support, and STEM-related hopes and goals. In addition, parental perception influenced STEM career aspirations both directly and indirectly. In the research model, the greatest effect was between parental support and STEM hopes and goals. These discoveries provide insight for educational policymakers, parents, and teachers who are helping students develop STEM career aspirations.

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Author's biography Dr. Hakan Ulum is a faculty member at Necmettin Erbakan University, Department of Elementary Education. He received his PhD from Çukurova University, Department of Elementary Education. He previously worked as a classroom teacher in the Ministry of National Education. Dr Ulum has participated in many international conferences on mathematics education in countries such as Poland and Azerbaijan as a speaker, moderated discussions and organised events. He also works as an editor in DOAJ-indexed and international journals. His research focuses on various topics such as mathematics education, primary school teacher training, educational technology, and meta-analysis. He has published many articles in journals indexed in the Social Sciences Citation Index. He has also refereed many articles in this index; Dr. Menşure Alkış Küçükaydın is a researcher and faculty member at Necmettin Erbakan University. She holds a degree in science education. Her research focuses on empirical studies in science and climate, climate change worries, climate change conspiracy theories and science education. The researcher includes critical learning theories in her studies. Dr. Alkış Küçükaydın is also interested in the integration of climate change into education and new research paradigms involving the combination of climate change, education and technology. Dr. Alkış Küçükaydın's research also covers the integration of artificial intelligence technologies into educational processes in the axis of science-climate interaction. She is an associate editor of several journals in the field of education. She has also published numerous books, articles and papers on education and science

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