Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Dissertations & Theses
Published April 11, 2015 | Version v1
Thesis Open

Evolution of Students’ Astronomy Career Interests: A Gender Study

Authors/Creators

  • 1. Harvard University

Contributors

  • 1. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; Harvard College Observatory
  • 2. Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Description

This thesis uses survey data (n=15,847) to characterize the evolution of student interest in an astronomy career in the period between middle school and the beginning of college. We find that middle school students have a relatively high interest in astronomy, which sharply declines with every phase of their education. However, many of the students who leave astronomy - particularly male students - feed heavily into other STEM disciplines. Through statistical modeling, we find that students who spend extracurricular time observing stars and/or talking to their family and peers about science are significantly more likely to hold an interest in pursuing astronomy at the end of high school. We also find that females who observe stars show a more drastic improvement in their odds of pursuing astronomy than males do. Furthermore, we find that these outside-of-school time activities are better predictors of astronomy interest than commonly studied academic predictors. We discuss the implications of these findings on future extracurricular programming for students.

Notes

Astro 99.

Files

BERGSTROM_ZOEY_SeniorThesis2015.pdf

Files (1.7 MB)

Name Size
md5:f27200fd02d0566bd260a38621371dd2
1.7 MB Preview Download

Additional details

References

  • [1] “Astronomy Alumni.” Department of Astronomy. Harvard University, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.
  • [2] Bailey, Janelle M., et al. “A multi-institutional investigation of students’ preinstruc- tional ideas about cosmology.” Astronomy Education Review 11.1 (2012): 010302.
  • [3] Barlow, Nadine, et al. “Women in Astronomy: A Sampler of Issues and Ideas” in Mercury (the magazine of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific), Jan/Feb. 1992, p. 27.
  • [4] “Bayer Facts of Science Education XV: A View from the Gatekeepers” STEM Depart- ment Chairs at America’s Top 200 Research Universities on Female and Underrepre- sented Minority Undergraduate STEM Students.” Journal of Science Education and Technology 21.3 (2012): 317-24. Web.
  • [5] Bergin, David. “Adolescents’ Out of School Learning Strategies.” The Journal of Ex- perimental Education 64.4 (1996): 309-23. Web.
  • [6] Bishop, J. E. “Pre-college Astronomy Education in the United States in the Twentieth Century.” Information Handling in Astronomy-Historical Vistas. Springer Netherlands, 2002. 207-231.
  • [7] Boy Scouts of America. Merit Badges. 2014. http : //www.scouting.org/meritbadges.aspx
  • [8] Calderon-Canales, Elena, Fernando Flores-Camacho, and Leticia Gallegos-Cazares. “El- ementary Students’ Mental Models of the Solar System.” Astronomy Education Review 12.1 (2013): 010108.
  • [9] Cheryan, Sapna, Victoria C. Plaut, Paul G. Davies, and Claude M. Steele. “Ambient Belonging: How Stereotypical Cues Impact Gender Participation in Computer Science.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 97.6 (2009): 1045-060. Web.
  • [10] Dabney, Katherine P., Robert H. Tai, John T. Almarode, Jaimie L. Miller-Friedmann, Gerhard Sonnert, Philip M. Sadler, and Zahra Hazari. “Out-of-School Time Science Activities and Their Association with Career Interest in STEM.” International Journal of Science Education, Part B 2.1 (2012): 63-79. Web.
  • [11] Dar-Nirmod, I., & Heine, S. J. (2006) Exposure to scientific theories affects women’s math performance. Science, 314, 435.
  • [12] Duncan, Douglas K., Angel R. Hoekstra, and Bethany R. Wilcox. “Digital Devices, Dis- traction, and Student Performance: Does In-Class Cell Phone Use Reduce Learning?.” Astronomy education review 11.1 (2012): 010108.
  • [13] Fisher, Allan, Jane Margolis, & Faye Miller. “Undergraduate Women in Computer Science.” ACM SIGCSE Bulletin 29.1 (1997): 106-10. Web.
  • [14] Fitzgerald, Michael T., et al. “Using smartphone camera technology to explore stellar parallax: method, results, and reactions.” Astronomy Education Review 10.1 (2011): 010108.
  • [15] Girl Scouts of America. Badge Explorer. 2014. http : //forgirls.girlscouts.org/home/badgeexplorer/
  • [16] Hazari, Zahra, Philip M. Sadler, and Gerhard Sonnert. “Research and Teaching. The Science Identity of College Students: Exploring the Intersection of Gender, Race, and Ethnicity.” Journal of College Science Teaching 42.5 (2013): 82-91.
  • [17] “The History of Women in Astronomy.” Women in Astronomy: History. American Astronomical Society, n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.
  • [18] Lagesen, V. A. “The Strength of Numbers: Strategies to Include Women into Computer Science.” Social Studies of Science 37.1 (2007): 67-92. Web.
  • [19] Lawlor, Timothy M. “Astronomy Exercises for the Artist: van Gogh the Observer.” Astronomy Education Review 12.1 (2013): 010202.
  • [20] Lelliott, Anthony, and Marissa Rollnick. “Big ideas: A review of astronomy education research 1974?2008.” International Journal of Science Education 32.13 (2010): 1771- 1799.
  • [21] Miller, Scott T., and C. Renee James. “The effect of animations within powerpoint presentations on learning introductory astronomy.” Astronomy Education Review 10.1 (2011): 010202.
  • [22] National Academy of Sciences. (2007). Beyond bias and barriers: Fulfilling the po- tential of women in academic science and engineering. Washington DC: The National Academies Press.
  • [23] Rauscher, Elizabeth. “Abstracts of Papers Presented at the Symposium on Astronomy Education, 22 May 1976.” Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 88.525 (1976): 617-20. Web.
  • [24] Riegle-Crumb, Catherine, Chelsea Moore, and Aida Ramos-Wada. “Who Wants to Have a Career in Science or Math? Exploring Adolescents’ Future Aspirations by Gender and Race/ethnicity.” Science Education 95.3 (2011): 458-76. Web.
  • [25] Rossiter, Margaret W. “Which Science? Which Women?” Osiris 12.1 (1997): 169-85. JSTOR. Web. 3 Feb. 2015.
  • [26] Rudolph, Alexander L. “Do You Always Need a Textbook to Teach Astro 101?.” As- tronomy Education Review 12.1 (2013): 010112.
  • [27] Sadler, Philip M., Gerhard Sonnert, Zahra Hazari, and Robert Tai. “Stability and Volatility of STEM Career Interest in High School: A Gender Study.” Science Education (2012): N/a. Web.
  • [28] Sanders, Nathan E., et al. “Preparing undergraduates for research careers: using astro- bites in the classroom.” Astronomy Education Review 11.1 (2012): 010201.
  • [29] Shettle, Carolyn, et al. “The Nation’s Report Card: America’s High School Graduates. NCES 2007-467.” National Center for Education Statistics (2007).
  • [30] Sugarman, Hannah, et al. “Astrology beliefs among undergraduate students.” Astron- omy Education Review 10.1 (2011): 010101.
  • [31] Summer, Larry. Remarks. 2005 NBER Conference on Diversifying the Science & Engi- neering Workforce. Cambridge, Massachusetts. January 14, 2005. http : //www.harvard.edu/president/speeches/summers 2005/nber.php