This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Activities children take part in with family and friends can help shape the fields of study and careers they pursue as adults. A new study published in the International Journal of STEM Education by FIU education researchers Chris Irwin and Zahra Hazari found that STEM activities and conversations with family, friends and teachers are among the strongest factors influencing students' motivations for pursuing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers.
Among 15,725 first-year college students surveyed across 119 U.S. institutions, researchers from FIU's STEM Transformation Institute identified three groups of students pursuing STEM careers based on their enjoyment of STEM and motivation to help others. These early experiences can expose children to STEM career paths they may not have known existed. "What we found is that the students who like STEM and also want to use STEM to help people actually, on average, enjoy STEM even more than just the people who are intrinsically curious," said Irwin.
Yet the study found that students who placed greater emphasis on helping others overall were less likely to plan on a STEM career. Among those who did intend to pursue STEM, roughly two-thirds considered helping others a key part of their motivation. "We looked at just the people who wanted to do STEM, who are the people who want to help others?
So, then we got these three profiles, the leaders, the scholars and the servers," said Hazari. The researchers say educators and parents can help broaden students' understanding of what STEM careers can offer and how STEM professionals can use their work to address global challenges and make a positive impact on society. This can help students who want to help others recognize STEM as a career path that aligns with their goals.
"Our main interest is in trying to broaden what people think STEM can do and think of it as more congruent with people's interests in helping others," said Irwin. "You can message that STEM is a service-oriented enterprise, that STEM professionals are benefiting society. We are here to make things better," said Hazari.
Irwin and Hazari hope these findings encourage educators, families and communities to create more opportunities for students to connect STEM with their desire to help others, shaping not only who enters STEM but how they use it to serve society. Christopher Irwin et al, The importance of relational pathways into STEM: evidence from a combined machine learning and statistical analysis, International Journal of STEM Education (2026). DOI: 10.1186/s40594-026-00613-2 Provided by Florida International University BA art history, MA material culture.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
