Presented by Peter D. Marle, B.A. Influence of Parental Involvement by Gender on Student Outcomes in STEM Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM Presented By Peter D. Marle, B.A.

Center for STEM Education Model Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM Student & Family Characteristics Demographics, Family Encouragement Peer Influence Giftedness STEM Learning Variables (PIPES) K-12 STEM Workshops & Summer Camps (intensity, duration, breadth) Science and Math Professional Development Academies Interests Intentions Decisions Major Choice Career Choice PIPES: Partnership in Innovative Preparation for Educators and Students

What the Literature Says Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM Recent 2009 Meta-Analysis (Hill & Tyson, 2009) 50 studies in parent involvement for middle-school students Parent involvement is positively associated with achievement Academic socialization was strongest type Communication of expectations Value for education Fostering child’s aspirations Planning for future

PIPES’ Parent Involvement and Attitude Variables Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM ConstructInstrument / ScaleLiterature / Source Parent Attitudes toward Math and Science Attitudes about Math Survey (Adopted for Science) Fennema and Sherman (1976) Mason and Kahle (1988) Smith and Hausafus (1996) Parent Encouragement Measures of Science Advantage and Motivation for a Science Career Stake and Mares (2001) **Student Measures adapted for use with Parents Demographics and Characteristics of Student and their Family  Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Family SES, Family type  Parents’ Level of Education / Occupation  Classification (e.g., Gifted)  Grade Level  Parents’ Expectations for College Math and Science Interest Survey-PARENT Questionnaire Student Information Survey (Parent Version) Some items adopted from GK-12 Outreach – University of Arkansas

Literature and PIPES’ Parent Variables Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM Parent Involvement through Academic Socialization Communication of expectations Motivation for a Science Career (also adapted for math) Value for education Attitudes about Math Survey (also adapted for science) Fostering child’s aspirations Measures of Science Advantage (also adapted for math) Planning for future Motivation for a Science Career (also adapted for math) Parents’ expectations for college

Sample Parent Survey Items Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM Parent Involvement through Academic Socialization Motivation for a Science Career (also adapted for math) “Having a science career would be interesting for my child” Attitudes about Math Survey, Math Beliefs subscale (also adapted for science) “Math is one of the most important subjects for my child to study in school” Attitudes about Math Survey, Math Action subscale (also adapted for science) “I encourage my child to take advanced math in school” Measures of Science Advantage (also adapted for math) “Our family is interested in the science courses my child takes” Parents’ expectations for college “What is the highest level of education you expect your child to complete”

PIPES’ Student Characteristics Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM *Data excludes participants without parent response on the parent attitude and involvement surveys

PIPES’ Parent and Family Characteristics Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM *Data excludes participants without parent response on the parent attitude and involvement surveys

Parent Survey Statistics Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM Science Portion (N = 833; 53% female); Math Portion (N =813; 53% female) These measures were aggregated for the following analyses into a Parent Attitude and Involvement Variable Median r for science measures =.64 (p <.001, N = 814), for math measures =.52 (p <.001, N = 814)

Parent Survey Statistics Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM Child’s Gender: p <.001, η 2 =.02 (small) Parent’s Gender: p =.187, η 2 =.002 Interaction: p =.359, η 2 =.001 Aggregated Parent Attitude and Involvement M = 5.03, SD = 0.60 (range 1.98 to 6.00; N = 792)

Parent Survey Statistics Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM Child’s Gender: p <.001, η 2 =.02 (small) Race: p =.289, η 2 =.007 Interaction: p =.006, η 2 =.02 (small) Simple Main Effects Pairwise Comparisons: * p <.05, ** p <.01, *** p <.001; η 2 =.01,.01,.02, respectively

Parent Survey Statistics Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM With exception of Careers in Teaching and Medical Fields, p <.001 for all comparisons. Median mean difference = 0.54 (range of 0.25 [Science Teacher Scale] to 1.01 [Career in Eng.]); Median d = 0.47 (range of 0.33 [Science Teacher Scale] to 0.82 [Motivation for a Science Career]; small to large effect sizes).

Parent Survey Statistics Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM Math (low n = 136, high n = 144); Science (low n = 132, high n = 142); d = 0.25 & 0.19 * p =.036; ** p =.123 (ns) Math (low n = 61, high n = 85); Science (low n = 62, high n = 85); d = 0.10 & 0.08 * p =.541; ** p =.626 Pre SurveyPost Survey

Direction for the Future Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM What Does this Mean for STEM Research (PIPES)? Parent Involvement is remarkably constant across student measures Our differentiation of Low and High Involvement (split at 5.03 on a 1 to 6 scale) What are the implications of even lower parent involvement Can low/no involvement be ameliorated? Do PIPES programs ameliorate the effect of lower parent involvement on student outcomes? Will they sustain an effect? PIPES model

Influence of Parental Involvement in STEM Questions? Thank You for Listening!