What counts as STEM, and does it matter?

Area of Science:

• STEM Education
• Career Development
• Psychology

Background:

• Accurate measurement of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) career interest requires understanding students' perceptions of STEM careers.
• Students' conceptualizations of STEM careers are complex and not always aligned with traditional definitions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether students include medical careers within their definition of STEM.
• To examine if factors predicting STEM career interest differ based on whether medical careers are included in the STEM definition.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: Online questionnaire with 125 US college students.
• Study 2: Survey with 455 US 10th-grade students assessing math achievement, motivation, and career interest.

Main Results:

• Medical careers were viewed as STEM more often than non-STEM but less than traditional STEM careers.
• Science importance value predicted interest in STEM+Medicine careers, but not traditional STEM.
• Gender differences emerged: boys favored traditional STEM, girls favored STEM+Medicine.

Conclusions:

• Students' understanding of STEM is nuanced and not strictly binary.
• Researchers should clearly define STEM in studies, coding, and publications to ensure clarity and comparability.