This research, undertaken by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER), was funded by the Ministry of Research Science and Technology (MoRST) and used to inform its ongoing policy work. They wanted to know who took Year 13 science subjects and why, and to find out about the factors that influence students to keep studying sciences at tertiary level (or not). The research had two phases:
1. A background paper that:
- outlined competing ways to measure patterns of participation in school science subjects; and
- summarised other research about factors that influence students to carry on in science.
2. A report of focus group and survey research that addressed two critical questions:
- Why do students choose to take sciences in Year 13?
- Why do students plan to take up (or not take up) sciences in their tertiary level studies?
Key Results
1. No single information and support strategy will suffice to encourage higher levels of ongoing participation in the sciences.
2. Exploring the ways students combined subjects in Year 13 helped in understanding their different attitudes to science and career interests. A cluster analysis of ways science and selected other subjects tend to be combined revealed four different groups, with associated differences in attitudes to science as a potential career area. This finding suggests that science opportunities need to be different for students with different interests.
3. Some students make the decision to continue studying sciences at tertiary much earlier than Year 13. Other students are still very undecided at the stage of leaving school. There are benefits associated with each approach, and any support needs to account for both ends of the continuum.
4. Factors that influence students to stay with science subjects can include: personal interests, broad decision-making orientation, family background, positive learning experiences (curricular and extracurricular), type of school attended, and knowledge of potential science careers.
5. Although it is sometimes said that less young people are taking science, there are a number of different ways to measure “science participation” so any claims about trends need to be interpreted carefully.