Understanding the Relationship Between Parental Education and STEM Course Taking Through Identity-Based and Expectancy-Value Theories of Motivation

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanley

Longitudinal study examines how socioeconomic status relates to students’ STEM course taking, focusing on the role of parental education. Reports from students and parents gathered from middle school through age 20 assess expectations, values, and future identities. Findings indicate parental education predicts high school and college mathematics and science enrollment, with partial mediation by students’ and parents’ future STEM identity and motivational beliefs. Results suggest psychological interventions to narrow social class gaps, improving STEM access, opportunities, and careers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Background

Mechanisms linking SES and STEM course taking

Neighborhood, behavioral, and motivational factors

Interactions among family and student levels

AERA Open July-September 2016, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 1–13 DOI: 10. 1177/2332858416664875 © The Author(s) 2016. [http://ero.sagepub.com](http://ero.sagepub.com) Understanding the Relationship Between Parental Education and STEM Course Taking Through Identity-Based and Expectancy-Value Theories of Motivation Ryan C. Svoboda Northwestern University Christopher S. Rozek University of Chicago Janet S. Hyde Judith M. Harackiewicz University of Wisconsin-Madison Mesmin Destin Northwestern University High school students from lower–socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds are less likely to enroll in advanced mathematics and science courses compared to students from higher-SES backgrounds. The current longitudinal study draws on identitybased and expectancy-value theories of motivation to explain the SES and mathematics and science course-taking relationship. This was done by gathering reports from students and their parents about their expectations, values, and future identities for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics beginning in middle school through age 20. Results showed that parental education predicted mathematics and science course taking in high school and college, and this relationship was partially mediated by students’and parents’future identity and motivational beliefs concerning mathematics and science. These findings suggest that psychological interventions may be useful for reducing social class gaps in STEM course taking, which has critical implications for the types of opportunities and careers available to students. Keywords: motivation, identity, math education, science education, social class HigH school students from lower–socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds are less likely to enroll in advanced mathematics and science courses compared to students from higher-SES backgrounds (Bozick & Ingels, 2008; Lee & Burkam, 2003; Schneider, Swanson, & Riegle-Crumb, 1998; Simpkins, Davis-Kean & Eccles, 2006; Tyson, Lee, Borman,& Hanson, 2007). For example, in an analysis of Florida high schools, only 14.1% and 15.9% of students receiving free lunch enrolled in science classes beyond Chemistry I and mathematics classes beyond Algebra II, compared to 28.8% and 32.6% of students not receiving free lunch (Tyson et al., 2007) . It is believed that this failure to take advanced courses influences low-SES students’academic achievement, college completion, and entry into several careers (Adelman, 2006; Lee & Bryk, 1988; Maltese & Tai, 2011) . This is especially the case for enrollment in advanced high school mathematics (e.g., calculus and precalculus) and science (e.g., physics) courses, which have been found to be strong predictors of a range of educational outcomes, including test scores, high school completion, college enrollment, majors, and graduation (Adelman, 2006; Attewell & Domina, 2008; Maltese & Tai, 2011; Riegle-Crumb & Grodsky, 2010; Trusty, 2002; Tyson et al., 2007) . Therefore, high school is a critical period for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career preparation as these advanced high school mathematics and science courses act as gatekeepers to future STEM major and career choices (Andersen & Ward, 2014; Maltese & Tai, 2011) . Background Several potential mechanisms have been proposed to explain the relationship between SES and STEM course taking, including parents’ and students’ behaviors and motivational beliefs, cultural and social capital, and neighborhood and family characteristics (Coleman, 1987; Davis-Kean, 2005; Eccles et al., 1993; Horvat, Weiniger, & Lareau, 2003; Watkins, 1997) . Research on broad neighborhood and family characteristics suggests that families with higher incomes and levels of education are more likely to live in Creative Commons CC-BY: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License ([http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/](http://www.creativecomm

FAQs

What is the main research question of the study?

The study explains the relationship between socioeconomic status, parental education, and students’ mathematics and science (STEM) course taking using identity-based and expectancy-value theories of motivation.

How are data for the study collected?

The researchers gather reports from students and their parents about expectations, values, and future identities for STEM topics starting in middle school and continuing through age 20.

What do the results show about parental education and STEM enrollment?

Parental education predicts students’ mathematics and science course taking in high school and college, and this relationship is partially mediated by students’ and parents’ future STEM identity and motivational beliefs.

Why do the authors suggest psychological interventions?

Because the mediation by motivational beliefs and identity indicates that psychological factors may be modifiable, offering a way to reduce social class gaps in STEM course taking and expand opportunities and careers.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanley