Browsing by Author "Gottlieb, Jessica J. (TTU)"
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Item Stand out and speak up: exploring empowerment perspectives among advocacy activities of STEM teachers in the US(2023) Velasco, Richard Carlos L.; Hite, Rebecca L. (TTU); Milbourne, Jeffrey D.; Gottlieb, Jessica J. (TTU)Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers need sources of empowerment to effectively guide education policy and continue to participate in advocacy-based activities. This study surveyed 208 STEM teachers on their acts of advocacy to advance STEM education. The question that guided this research was as follows: What are the underlying factors that contribute to STEM teachers’ advocacy activities in effecting change to STEM education policies? An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine underlying factors contributing to STEM teachers’ engagement in advocacy activities via the theoretical lens of empowerment. The findings revealed four factors that empowered their advocacy work: critical confrontations, political awareness, communicative voice, and policymaker influence. The data suggest that as sampled STEM teachers developed a critical consciousness, they were empowered to engage in critical conversations on issues of social justice, such as galvanizing efforts to make STEM education accessible to all students and equitable for diverse learners.Item The role of outcome expectations and subjective task value in selecting a STEM major among women and men: Implications for practice and defining STEM(2022) Jackson, Grant R. (TTU); Gottlieb, Jessica J. (TTU); McNaughtan, Jon (TTU); Eicke, Dustin (TTU)For decades, attaining gender equity and equality in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, along with increasing the number of STEM professionals in the U.S., have been interconnected goals that have received significant attention from scholars, researchers, and various national organizations. Projections still indicate an overall shortage of STEM professionals, including the underrepresentation of women in many STEM fields. Given such trends, scholars have recognized the need to study a variety of factors associated with students' entry into and persistence in STEM fields. In this study, we analyzed and compared the STEM major selection processes of 4,120 females and males who participated in the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 and who, as college students, selected a STEM major. To do this, we constructed and analyzed structural equation models that describe the relationships between the expectancy of success and subjective task value constructs described by expectancy−value theory and students' selection of a STEM major in one of three categories (core STEM subjects, medical STEM subjects, and social science subjects). In so doing, we were able to discern (a) differences in STEM major selection processes among females and among males, depending on how STEM is categorized, and (b) differences between females and males within each of the three STEM categorizations. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.