AUTHOR=Kampa Nele , Krämer Sonja , Hannover Bettina TITLE=Secondary School Leaving Examinations: The Impact of Expectancies, Values, and Dimensional Comparisons on Male and Female Students’ Science-Oriented Choices JOURNAL=Frontiers in Education VOLUME=5 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2020.545608 DOI=10.3389/feduc.2020.545608 ISSN=2504-284X ABSTRACT=
In Germany, secondary school students have to choose at least one STEM subject (mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics) for their Secondary School Leaving Examinations. In a representative sample of students in grade 13 in one federal state in Germany, we explore male and female students’ subject choices in an expectancy-value as well as dimensional comparison framework by considering prior performance, ability self-concept, and values in the chosen subject. We extend previous research by including dimensional comparisons that students make between the varying subjects they have to choose from. We discriminate between two opposing groups. One group shows a science-avoidance choice pattern by selecting only one science subject: biology (