Experiences Relationships and Identity Formation: Factors Influencing a Scientists' Career Choice
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
Although one of the goals of science education is to educate and nurture the next generation of scientists and engineers, there is little research that documents the path from childhood to a scientist. A number of variables have been identified as contributing to an individual’s decision to select science as a career path including self efficacy, the feedback from family and significant others, prior experiences, prior knowledge and skills, as well as interests (REFERENCE??). Most studies examine career paths by examining adolescents and young adult’s decisions about courses, majors, and careers and there is little information on how practicing scientists and engineers perceive their career trajectory. Through the use of semi-structured interviews, the reflections of 37 scientists from diverse science domains explored their experiences and goals while growing up. Self determination theory was utilized as a model to explain how individuals make decisions related to careers and other life choices. Three components of self determination theory are competency, relatedness, and autonomy (Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier, and Ryan, 1991). We sought to understand how in and out-of-school experiences as well as relationships with others contributed to these individual’s identity as scientists and engineers as well as their career decisions. There were commonalities in the individuals’ reflections on past experiences in and out-of-school, attributes, and influential relationships that may have shaped their decision to become a scientist. These experiences and relationships illustrate the how competency, relatedness, and autonomy intersect and play key roles in the evolution from student to scientist.
