Elementary school students' attitudes toward science and their course of studies in high school

This paper reports on a unique longitudinal study of adolescents which probes the relationship between the attitudes of grade 6 male and female students toward their school subjects as well as toward adult occupations and their actual course of study five years later. The findings indicate that there is almost no connection between these attitudes and their course of study in grade 11. However, a significant difference was found with regard to the importance grade six students assigned to the most scientific occupations and their future academic or nonacademic location in the course of study. The major finding is the importance of gender differences in their selection of courses of study based on the occupations they consider important. These gender differences are explained in light of general gender relations in society.