Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Jansen, Malte
• Becker, Michael
• Neumann, Marko
• Kendeou, Panayiota

Titel

Dimensional Comparison Effects on (Gendered) Educational Choices

Ist Teil von

• Journal of educational psychology, 2021-02, Vol.113 (2), p.330-350

Ort / Verlag

Washington: American Psychological Association

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

ERIC

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Expectancy-value theory (EVT) proposes that students' appraisals of success expectancy and task value are the main drivers of their study and career choices. Dimensional comparison theory proposes that these beliefs are themselves affected by students comparing their ability across different domains. However, only a few studies have aimed to integrate these approaches and clarify the role of dimensional comparisons within EVT. Using longitudinal data, we aimed to fill this gap by studying within- and cross-domain effects of achievement (grades and test scores), academic self-concept (as a surrogate for expectancy beliefs), and values on German adolescents' (N = 519) high school course choices and their intentions to major in a STEM subject at university. We show that (a) self-concepts predicted course choices, whereas values predicted STEM study intentions; (b) dimensional comparison patterns (positive within-domain and negative across-domain relations) were present; (c) gender differences in course choices were mediated by differences in achievement, self-concept, and value; and (d) there was an incremental gender effect on STEM study intentions above and beyond achievement, self-concept, value, and previous course choices. Furthermore, overall, a model incorporating cross-domain paths representing dimensional comparisons fit the data better than a model without these paths. We conclude that direct and indirect dimensional comparison effects contribute to predicting choices of high school courses and university majors and to understanding gender differences in these choices. We recommend that studies in the EVT framework include cross-domain effects. Educational Impact and Implications Statement We show that students' domain-specific self-concepts (i.e., their self-perceived ability in a domain) and values (e.g., their enjoyment and interest in a domain) are related to their choices and intentions (expectancy-value theory). When making course choices, students' self-perceived ability seems to play a major role, whereas intentions regarding the domain of study after graduation are more strongly related to the values students ascribe to different domains. Furthermore, our study emphasizes that, when choosing advanced courses or forming study intentions, students consider their achievement, self-concept, and value in several domains, thus weighting their strengths and weaknesses against each other (dimensional comparison theory). Our results may be important for educators who counsel students about their course and postschool choices. The assumed processes (i.e., differences in self-concept and value) partly, but not fully, explain gender differences in STEM study intentions, indicating a need for further research.