Examining STEM Preferences in Autistic Students: The Role of Contextual Support, Self-Efficacy, and Outcome Expectations

IF 2.2 3区教育学 Q1 EDUCATION, SPECIAL

Exceptional Children Pub Date : 2025-01-24 DOI:10.1177/00144029241312777

Hyejung Kim, Mack Ottens, Matthew Jacob, Xingye Qiao

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Abstract

Over recent decades, there has been a significant increase in postsecondary STEM education among autistic individuals. Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, this study examined the STEM pathways of autistic students, emphasizing key determinants like proximal context, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations within the framework of social cognitive theory. The results revealed that despite a lower college attendance rate, autistic students displayed a pronounced inclination for STEM majors, particularly in the fields of science, engineering, and mathematics. Notably, autistic students who pursue higher education tend to exhibit increased levels of self-efficacy and anticipate more positive outcomes within STEM disciplines. However, the levels of both constructs in mathematics had decreased by the 11th grade. Nonetheless, STEM self-efficacy played a significant role in influencing outcome expectations and major choices, with this relationship being more pronounced among autistic students. For autistic students, their choice of a STEM major was influenced by their self-efficacy, as well as factors like race and gender. On the other hand, for non-autistic students, their proximal context was an additional determinant in their decision. Insights gained from this research can inform educational strategies aimed at facilitating the participation of autistic individuals in postsecondary STEM education and related career paths.

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检视自闭症学生的STEM偏好：情境支持、自我效能和结果预期的作用

近几十年来，自闭症患者接受STEM后教育的人数显著增加。利用2009年高中纵向研究的数据，本研究考察了自闭症学生的STEM路径，强调了社会认知理论框架内的关键决定因素，如近端情境、自我效能和结果预期。结果显示，尽管自闭症学生的大学出勤率较低，但他们对STEM专业表现出明显的倾向，尤其是在科学、工程和数学领域。值得注意的是，接受高等教育的自闭症学生往往表现出更高的自我效能感，并期望在STEM学科中取得更积极的成果。然而，到了11年级，这两种概念在数学中的水平都有所下降。尽管如此，STEM自我效能感在影响结果预期和主要选择方面发挥了重要作用，这种关系在自闭症学生中更为明显。对于自闭症学生来说，他们对STEM专业的选择受到自我效能感以及种族和性别等因素的影响。另一方面，对于非自闭症学生来说，他们的近端环境是他们做出决定的另一个决定因素。从这项研究中获得的见解可以为旨在促进自闭症患者参与中学后STEM教育和相关职业道路的教育策略提供信息。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Exceptional Children Multiple-

CiteScore

5.90

自引率

14.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Exceptional Children, an official journal of The Council for Exceptional Children, publishes original research and analyses that focus on the education and development of exceptional infants, toddlers, children, youth, and adults. This includes descriptions of research, research reviews, methodological reviews of the literature, data-based position papers, policy analyses, and registered reports. Exceptional Children publishes quantitative, qualitative, and single-subject design studies.