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Scholarly Works (3 results)

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UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2021)

This dissertation examined the development and contextual correlates of Asian, Black, Latina/o, and White adolescents’ STEM motivational beliefs. This is an important topic because STEM is increasingly critical for our daily lives and advances in the economy, but the U.S. struggles with stark racial/ethnic inequities in STEM. In Study 1, through person-centered analyses, I identified four and five patterns of math and science motivational beliefs in 9th and 11th grade, respectively. For each racial/ethnic group, I also charted the stability and changes in those patterns for 9th to 11th grade, in addition to testing how the patterns at 11th grade were associated with adolescents’ STEM performance and career aspirations. Study 2 examined the relations between race/ethnicity, parents’ STEM support, parents’ STEM degree/occupation, and adolescents’ STEM motivational beliefs. Findings suggested that parents’ STEM support could be leveraged to promote adolescents’ STEM motivational beliefs, with the most pronounced benefit observed among parents without a STEM degree/occupation. Study 3 examined how adolescents’ STEM motivational beliefs and GPAs were associated with STEM indicators from two related contexts, neighborhoods and schools. Findings suggested that the direct and indirect effects of neighborhood STEM jobs and school STEM indicators on adolescents’ STEM motivational beliefs and performance were largely nonsignificant. Across Studies 2 and 3, findings suggested several racial/ethnic differences in the mean levels of family, school, and adolescent STEM indicators. However, results also showed substantial racial/ethnic similarities regarding the associations between contextual factors and adolescents’ STEM motivational beliefs, aspirations, and performances. All three studies in this dissertation were guided by the situated expectancy-value theory and utilized the High School Longitudinal Study dataset (from the National Center for Educational Statistics). Each study, however, incorporated additional theoretical frameworks and used specific subsamples from the dataset that best matched their research aims.

    Cover page: Three Studies on the Patterns and Contextual Predictors of Adolescents’ STEM Motivational Beliefs
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2023)

    Introduction

    Based on Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory and Bornstein's specificity principle, the purpose of this study was to examine adolescents' time in out-of-school settings as a precursor of three types of problematic substance use in adulthood (i.e., binge drinking, regular marijuana use, and use of illicit drugs).

    Method

    Adolescents (N = 978) reported the time they spent in four common out-of-school settings at ages 15 and 18: unsupervised time with peers, organized sports, other organized activities, and paid employment. At age 26, participants reported binge drinking, marijuana use, and illicit drug use.

    Results and conclusions

    Adolescents' time in out-of-school settings during high school predicted age 26 substance use over and above family and adolescent factors, including adolescents' substance use during high school. Adolescents' unsupervised time with peers increased the odds and frequency of binge drinking and regular marijuana use at age 26. Time in high school organized sports increased the odds of binge drinking at age 26, but not marijuana or illicit drug use. Time spent in other organized activities, such as community service and the arts, lowered the odds of illicit drug use whereas paid employment in high school was not related to age 26 substance use. Aligned with Bornstein's specificity principle, time spent in specific out-of-school settings during adolescence were differentially related to substance use problems in early adulthood, with some activities serving as a risk factor and other activities serving as a protective factor for young adults.
      Cover page: Longitudinal associations between adolescent out-of-school time and adult substance use.
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2019)
      Science motivational beliefs are crucial for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) performance and persistence, but these beliefs typically decline during high school. We expanded the literature on adolescents' science motivational beliefs by examining: (1) changes in motivational beliefs in three specific science subjects, (2) how gender, immigrant generation status, and perceived support from key social agents predicted differences in adolescents' science motivational beliefs, and (3) these processes among Latino/as in the United States, whose underrepresentation in STEM is understudied. We used hierarchical linear modeling to estimate the changes in 104 (40% female) Latino/a high school students' physics, chemistry, and biology motivational beliefs from 9th to 11th grade. Subject-specific ability self-concept, interest, and utility were regressed on gender, immigrant generation status, and perceived science support while controlling for family income, parent education, and adolescents' school. Adolescents' utility declined from 9th to 11th grade whereas their interest remained stable for all three science subjects. Adolescents' ability self-concept increased for biology, decreased for physics, but remained stable for chemistry. Gender differences in adolescents' motivational beliefs at 9th grade only emerged for physics utility as well as physics and chemistry interest; yet, there were no gender differences in how adolescents' science motivational beliefs changed over time. Contrary to expectations, immigrant generation status was not significantly associated with adolescents' science motivational beliefs at 9th grade or in terms of how they changed over time. Adolescents who perceived higher science support generally had higher motivational beliefs in 9th grade, but did not differ on their rate of change. Our findings highlight the need to examine specific science subjects, and that typical gender differences in adolescents' motivational beliefs discussed in the literature may not generalize to all racial and ethnic groups.
        Cover page: Changes in United States Latino/a High School Students’ Science Motivational Beliefs: Within Group Differences Across Science Subjects, Gender, Immigrant Status, and Perceived Support
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