An Analysis of Iranian-American College Students' Interest in STEM: The Roles of Cultural Orientation, Academic Selfefficacy, Communal and Agentic Goal Orientations, and Goal Affordances
[Thesis]
Sahra N. Kaboli-Nejad
Ryan, Carey S.
University of Nebraska at Omaha
2018
72
Committee members: Casas, Juan; Falconer Al-Hindi, Karen; Harrison, Wayne
Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-0-355-86381-9
M.A.
Psychology
University of Nebraska at Omaha
2018
Women are underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in the U.S. In contrast, 70% of the Islamic Republic of Iran's STEM graduates are women. Research has primarily focused on White women in the U.S; few studies have taken an intersectional approach, assessing the impact of both culture and gender in the pursuit of STEM careers. The purpose of the present study was to assess the role that cultural orientations, academic self-efficacy, agentic and communal goal orientation, and goal affordances play in Iranian-Americans' interest in pursuing STEM careers. Iranian-American students (N=75) were recruited through Iranian college student associations across the U.S. Participants completed on-line questionnaires that included measures of American and Iranian cultural orientations, academic self-efficacy, communal and agentic goal orientation, perceptions of the types of goals afforded by STEM and non-STEM careers, and interest in STEM. Results indicated that men were more interested in pursuing STEM careers than were women. However, the relationship between cultural orientation and perceptions of the types of goals STEM careers afford differed by gender, such that women who had a stronger Iranian orientation perceived STEM careers as affording greater communal goals. Furthermore, men with a stronger American orientation exhibited less academic self-efficacy, whereas participants (regardless of gender) with a greater Iranian cultural orientation exhibited greater academic self-efficacy. Results indicated that women with a stronger Iranian cultural orientation exhibited greater interest in STEM. Contrary to literature on Western populations, analyses indicated men who viewed STEM careers as affording more agentic (versus communal) goals were significantly less interested in STEM careers. These results suggest that an intersectional approach is needed to understand why women enter and persist in STEM fields. Rather than focusing on gender differences in interest in STEM, research that focuses on the cultural norms that dictate the type of careers women are supposed to pursue is likely to be more fruitful.
Educational psychology
Education;Cultural orientation;Goal affordances;Goal orientation;Iranian-americans;Women in stem