Career motivation of secondary students in STEM: a cross-cultural study between Korea and Indonesia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand the career motivation of secondary students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by comparing Korean and Indonesian students. Effects of gender and educational level on students’ STEM career motivation were also examined. To test for differences, we used Rasch analysis, 3-way ANOVA, correlation analysis, and multiple group path analysis. STEM career motivation was found to be significantly affected by interactions between country, gender, and educational level. Overall, Indonesian students had more STEM career motivation than Korean students. Korean students showed larger gender differences in STEM career motivation than Indonesian students.