TY - GEN
T1 - STEM Attitudes and Aspirations Across Early and Mid-Adolescence
T2 - 14th International Conference on Spatial Cognition, Spatial Cognition 2026
AU - Malkogeorgou, Styliani
AU - Duffy, Gavin
AU - Pagkratidou, Marianna
AU - Jansen, Petra
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2027.
PY - 2027
Y1 - 2027
N2 - Given ongoing concerns about shortages of STEM graduates, it is important to understand why young people pursue STEM education and careers. This study examined associations between spatial ability, visuospatial working memory and STEM attitudes and aspirations in adolescents, considering grade, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and differences between the Greek and Irish subsamples. Participants were 763 grade 6 and grade 10 students from public schools in Greece and Ireland. Measures assessed spatial ability, visuospatial working memory, STEM attitudes, advanced STEM lesson interest, and STEM career aspirations. Higher levels of spatial ability and working memory were associated with more positive STEM attitudes and aspirations. Grade 6 students reported more positive STEM attitudes and stronger aspirations than grade 10 students. Boys reported more positive engineering/technology attitudes than girls, whereas girls performed better than boys on some spatial measures. Students in the Irish subsample and students from higher SES groups showed more positive STEM attitudes and aspirations and stronger cognitive performance than students in the Greek subsample and lower SES groups. Working memory statistically partially mediated the association between spatial ability and STEM attitudes. Overall, the findings underline the combined importance of cognitive, grade-level, socioeconomic, and sample-context factors in STEM engagement among adolescents.
AB - Given ongoing concerns about shortages of STEM graduates, it is important to understand why young people pursue STEM education and careers. This study examined associations between spatial ability, visuospatial working memory and STEM attitudes and aspirations in adolescents, considering grade, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and differences between the Greek and Irish subsamples. Participants were 763 grade 6 and grade 10 students from public schools in Greece and Ireland. Measures assessed spatial ability, visuospatial working memory, STEM attitudes, advanced STEM lesson interest, and STEM career aspirations. Higher levels of spatial ability and working memory were associated with more positive STEM attitudes and aspirations. Grade 6 students reported more positive STEM attitudes and stronger aspirations than grade 10 students. Boys reported more positive engineering/technology attitudes than girls, whereas girls performed better than boys on some spatial measures. Students in the Irish subsample and students from higher SES groups showed more positive STEM attitudes and aspirations and stronger cognitive performance than students in the Greek subsample and lower SES groups. Working memory statistically partially mediated the association between spatial ability and STEM attitudes. Overall, the findings underline the combined importance of cognitive, grade-level, socioeconomic, and sample-context factors in STEM engagement among adolescents.
KW - Gender
KW - Spatial ability
KW - STEM attitudes
KW - STEM careers
KW - Working memory
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105051046585
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-032-36716-7_13
DO - 10.1007/978-3-032-36716-7_13
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:105051046585
SN - 9783032367150
T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science
SP - 184
EP - 195
BT - Spatial Cognition XIV - 14th International Conference, Spatial Cognition 2026, Proceedings
A2 - Farran, Emily
A2 - Schwering, Angela
A2 - Schinazi, Victor R.
A2 - Parkinson, Jack
PB - Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Y2 - 25 August 2026 through 28 August 2026
ER -