Science identity in science and technology in a cross-cultural perspective

Research on students’ interest in science and technology (S&T) is an international concern. Identity is a growing concept in the field which imply that interest can differentiate in content areas partly depending on national and cultural influences. Therefor cross-cultural perspectives are key in understanding differentiation. This symposium contributes by presenting four studies in different countries on three continents. Data are part of an ongoing large international research study called the Relevance of Science Education Second (ROSES) study concerned with students’ relationships with S&T. Data is gathered by a questionnaire. The research is explorative; hence analysis is done from national interests and constraints. The studies present results showing that specific content and value domains are in connection with secondary students’ choices to study S&T further. The studies reveal that in some cases the wish to become a scientist has increased while in others there are contradictions between a positive attitude towards conducting research and defending the environment and a lack of interest in pursuing a science career. The symposium is framed by identity as theoretical approach and contributes with specificities of interest and values showing examples of how the situation is differentiated in a cross-cultural perspective.

1. Secondary students’ science and technology identities: Specific content areas and values

In researching students’ interest in science and technology (S&T) during the 21st century science identity has become an important concept. Studies show interest and values to be related to identity development which is investigated in this study. The empirical evidence is part of a large international research study called the Relevance of Science Education Second (ROSES) study where data is collected by a questionnaire built up by several categories dealing with secondary students’ interest in and attitudes towards S&T. National data used in this paper were collected in spring 2020. Exploratory factor analysis where the initial solution is followed by orthogonal rotation was applied to analyse data in three steps. The analysis presents seven factors of students’ interest in S&T, five of students’ values, and two more dealing with students’ experiences of S&T and whether they believe S&T in the media is reliable. In addition, the respondents were sorted into five groups by the choices they had made for upper secondary education and related to all factors. The results show that the students who apply for S&T programs in upper secondary education differ from other students in both the interest and values factors. The results are framed with identity as a theoretical approach and contribute with concrete characters of how students’ interests and values in S&T are differentiated with implications for recruitment of students to the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education area.

 2. Identifying STEM Career Pathways through Relevance of Science Education

Factors affecting selection of the future STEM career for the secondary school students were studied in Georgia, Eastern Europe. Data were collected from the nationally representative sample of 9th and 10th grade students using the ROSES (The Relevance of Science Education – Second) questionnaire. As a result of the logistic multiple regression analysis, the outcome variable was affected by individual and societal dimensions of relevance of science education. Specifically, positively predicted by taking personal responsibility over environmental problems as well as interest in sex and reproductive health sphere, while interest in unexplained phenomena was a negative predictor of choosing STEM occupation. Students’ age and grade also positively predicted selection of the STEM career, which is an expected result. Recommendations for educators have been developed.

3. Youth’s environmental attitudes and use of digital media and social networks: a comparative exploration from seven Spanish-speaking countries

This study presents an international comparison among seven Spanish-speaking countries on the two main themes of ESERA-2025 conference: the environmental attitudes (EA) and the use of digital media and social networks (DM). These two categories are quantitatively and qualitatively assessed from the voices of a large sample of 15-year-old students, who answered the questionnaire of the international project (The relevance of science education, ROSES) that explores some affective factors of science education. Further, gender and across countries differences are also checked through significance probability and effect size of the differences. The main findings point out to students’ proactive environmental attitudes and moderate DM use in science classes, which are also quite similar across countries. However, some trends pinpoint to extreme EA and DM use in Argentina and Mexico. Further, the results also show generalised differences about EA and DM use between boys and girls and across countries. The overall gender differences on EA show that girls hold more positive attitudes than boys across all countries, though the effect size attain moderate to small scores. Regarding DM use, the gender differences are negative for all countries, that is, boys report higher overall DM use than girls, though the gender effect sizes are quite small. The consequences of these results for science education and for research on these issues, as well as the limitations of this study and the future prospective are discussed.

4. Students’ relationship with science and technology in Italy and Brazil

The Roses survey conducted in Italy and Brazil involved two significant samples of students aged 14-16. The survey studied students' attitudes and opinions towards scientific activities. In both countries there is considerable interest in scientific activities and a good percentage of students want to pursue a career as scientists. It is noted that thinking about research activity and living as a scientist are two different conditions and with motivations that vary from the cultural context in which Italian and Brazilian adolescents live. In the Brazilian context, specifically in the Amazon region where the investigation was conducted, the profession of scientist is not as common as in Europe. In the Italian case, adolescents have had a strong exposure to the presence of scientists in the media and this has certainly influenced the notable increase in the willingness to embrace a career as a researcher. These elements of difference will be discussed by valorizing the data collected in light of the different motivations that move adolescents.