The Impact of Length of Engagement in After-School STEM Programs on Middle School Girls

abstract: An underrepresentation of females exists in the STEM fields. In order to tackle this issue, work begins early in the education of young women to ensure they are interested and have the confidence to gain a career in the STEM fields. It is important to engage girls in STEM opportunities in...

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Other Authors: Cupp, Garth Meichel (Author)
Format: Doctoral Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.29663
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spelling ndltd-asu.edu-item-296632018-06-22T03:05:57Z The Impact of Length of Engagement in After-School STEM Programs on Middle School Girls abstract: An underrepresentation of females exists in the STEM fields. In order to tackle this issue, work begins early in the education of young women to ensure they are interested and have the confidence to gain a career in the STEM fields. It is important to engage girls in STEM opportunities in and out of school to ignite their interest and build their confidence. Brigid Barron's learning ecology perspective shows that girls pursuing STEM outside of the classroom is critical to their achievement in the STEM pipeline. This study investigated the impact after-school STEM learning opportunities have on middle school girls by investigating (a) how the length of engagement in after-school programs can affect the confidence of female students in their science and math abilities; (b) how length of engagement in after-school programs can affect the interest of female students in attaining a career in STEM; (c) how length of engagement in after-school programs can affect interest in science and math classes; and (d) how length of engagement can affect how female students' view gender parity in the STEM workforce. The major findings revealed no statistical significance when comparing confidence in math or science abilities or the perception that gender plays a role in attaining a career in STEM. The findings revealed statistical significance in the areas when comparing length of engagement in the girls' interest in their math class and attaining a career in three of the four STEM fields: science, technology, and engineering. The findings showed that multiple terms of engagement in the after-school STEM programs appear to be an effective catalyst to maintain the interest of girls pursuing STEM-related careers, in addition to allowing their interest in a topic to provide a new lens for the way they see their math work during the school day. The implications of this study show that schools must engage middle school girls who are interested in STEM in a multitude of settings, including outside of the classroom in order to maintain engagement in the STEM pipeline. Dissertation/Thesis Cupp, Garth Meichel (Author) Spencer, Dee Ann (Advisor) Appleton, Nicholas (Committee member) Schauer, David K (Committee member) Arizona State University (Publisher) Education Science education After-school Engineering Equity Girls Science STEM eng 109 pages Doctoral Dissertation Educational Administration and Supervision 2015 Doctoral Dissertation http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.29663 http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ All Rights Reserved 2015
collection NDLTD
language English
format Doctoral Thesis
sources NDLTD
topic Education
Science education
After-school
Engineering
Equity
Girls
Science
STEM
spellingShingle Education
Science education
After-school
Engineering
Equity
Girls
Science
STEM
The Impact of Length of Engagement in After-School STEM Programs on Middle School Girls
description abstract: An underrepresentation of females exists in the STEM fields. In order to tackle this issue, work begins early in the education of young women to ensure they are interested and have the confidence to gain a career in the STEM fields. It is important to engage girls in STEM opportunities in and out of school to ignite their interest and build their confidence. Brigid Barron's learning ecology perspective shows that girls pursuing STEM outside of the classroom is critical to their achievement in the STEM pipeline. This study investigated the impact after-school STEM learning opportunities have on middle school girls by investigating (a) how the length of engagement in after-school programs can affect the confidence of female students in their science and math abilities; (b) how length of engagement in after-school programs can affect the interest of female students in attaining a career in STEM; (c) how length of engagement in after-school programs can affect interest in science and math classes; and (d) how length of engagement can affect how female students' view gender parity in the STEM workforce. The major findings revealed no statistical significance when comparing confidence in math or science abilities or the perception that gender plays a role in attaining a career in STEM. The findings revealed statistical significance in the areas when comparing length of engagement in the girls' interest in their math class and attaining a career in three of the four STEM fields: science, technology, and engineering. The findings showed that multiple terms of engagement in the after-school STEM programs appear to be an effective catalyst to maintain the interest of girls pursuing STEM-related careers, in addition to allowing their interest in a topic to provide a new lens for the way they see their math work during the school day. The implications of this study show that schools must engage middle school girls who are interested in STEM in a multitude of settings, including outside of the classroom in order to maintain engagement in the STEM pipeline. === Dissertation/Thesis === Doctoral Dissertation Educational Administration and Supervision 2015
author2 Cupp, Garth Meichel (Author)
author_facet Cupp, Garth Meichel (Author)
title The Impact of Length of Engagement in After-School STEM Programs on Middle School Girls
title_short The Impact of Length of Engagement in After-School STEM Programs on Middle School Girls
title_full The Impact of Length of Engagement in After-School STEM Programs on Middle School Girls
title_fullStr The Impact of Length of Engagement in After-School STEM Programs on Middle School Girls
title_full_unstemmed The Impact of Length of Engagement in After-School STEM Programs on Middle School Girls
title_sort impact of length of engagement in after-school stem programs on middle school girls
publishDate 2015
url http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.29663
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