The Patterns of Adolescents’ Math and Science Motivational Beliefs - Examining Within–Racial/Ethnic Group Changes and Their Relations to STEM Outcomes

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam

The study addresses racial/ethnic disparities in STEM motivation during adolescence, where motivation declines and patterns of change remain insufficiently understood. Using High School Longitudinal Study data (N=18,260), it identifies latent patterns of math and science motivational beliefs in 9th and 11th grades across Asian, Black, Latina/o, White, and Multiracial adolescents. It then tests stability and change from 9th to 11th grade and links 11th-grade patterns to STEM career expectations and high school math and science GPA.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Rationale and research gap

Methods

Data source and sample

Latent pattern identification

Results

Patterns of motivational beliefs

Stability and changes across grades

Associations with STEM outcomes

Theoretical framework

Situated expectancy-value and dimensional comparison theories

AERA Open January-December 2022, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 1–22 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584221083673 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2022. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) The Patterns of Adolescents’ Math and Science Motivational Beliefs: Examining Within–Racial/Ethnic Group Changes and Their Relations to STEM Outcomes Ta-yang Hsieh Search Institute and University of California–Irvine Sandra D. Simpkins University of California–Irvine The racial/ethnic disparities and average declines in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) motivation during adolescence are worrisome. Although STEM motivational beliefs are theorized to function in conjunction with one another, the unique patterns and how they change over time for different racial/ethnic groups remain understudied. Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study (N = 18,260), we identified four and five patterns of math and science motivational beliefs in 9th and 11th grade, respectively, and examined their prevalence among Asian, Black, Latina/o, White, and Multiracial adolescents. We found patterns with overall high/low beliefs, patterns with varying levels of motivational beliefs, and patterns characterized by domain differentiation. Then, we charted the stability and changes in those patterns from 9th to 11th grade for each racial/ethnic group and how the patterns at 11th grade were associated with adolescents’STEM career expectations and high school math and science grade point averages. Keywords: STEM motivation, latent transition analysis, pattern centered, race/ethnicity, STEM career expectations, math and science GPAs Racial/ethnic disparities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the United States arise due to a range of structural issues, such as lack of representation, inequitable access to STEM opportunities, color-blind curricula, discrimination, and implicit biases (Beasley & Fischer, 2012; Grossman & Porche, 2014; McGee, 2016; Museus & Liverman, 2010; Nasir & Vakil, 2017) . The resulting STEM landscape is one marked with stark racial/ethnic disparities in both educational attainment and performance, which has negative implications for economic advancement and fundamental STEM literacies at both societal and individual levels (Jones, 2014; National Science Foundation [NSF], 2019; Taningco et al., 2008) . One of the critical factors predicting individuals’ STEM pursuits is their math and science motivational beliefs during high school (Eccles, 2011; M.-T. Wang & Degol, 2013); thus, it is crucial to understand the development of these motivational beliefs among adolescents of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. Individuals hold multiple motivational beliefs, including expectancies and value beliefs, that are interrelated and theorized to function in conjunction to shape individuals’ performance and choices (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020) . Despite theoretical arguments about their interrelatedness, most empirical work focuses on each belief separately. If, however, these beliefs are interrelated, then individuals should vary not only on each separate belief but also in terms of their specific patterns across multiple beliefs. In other words, individuals should vary in terms of the various combinations or patterns they exhibit across multiple beliefs, wherein some individuals, for example, might have high math and science motivational beliefs whereas others might have high motivation in math but not in science. Although some emerging work describes the unique patterns across multiple math and science motivational beliefs, how these patterns change over time across diverse racial/ethnic groups remains understudied (Dietrich & Lazarides, 2019; Ing & Nylund-Gibson, 2017) . The changes in adolescents’ math and science motivational belief patterns are critic

FAQs

What does the study investigate about adolescent STEM motivation?

It examines patterns in math and science motivational beliefs and how those patterns change from 9th to 11th grade across different racial/ethnic groups.

How is the research based methodologically?

It uses data from the High School Longitudinal Study (N=18,260) and identifies latent patterns in 9th and 11th grades before analyzing their stability and change.

Which STEM outcomes are assessed in relation to motivational belief patterns?

The study relates 11th-grade motivational patterns to adolescents’ STEM career expectations and to high school math and science grade point averages (GPAs).

Why are motivational belief changes during adolescence considered important?

Because motivation typically declines during this developmental period, understanding nuanced changes beyond average declines helps clarify how disparities may emerge or persist.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam