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Improving career development: utilization of self-authorship in STEM career advising

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Improving career development: utilization of self-authorship in STEM career advising

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Content Improving Career Development:
Utilization of Self-Authorship in STEM Career Advising
by
Thuy C. Le
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF EDUCATIONAL COUNSELING
December 2024

ii
© Copyright by Thuy C. Le 2024
All Rights Reserved

iii
The Committee for Thuy C. Le certifies the approval of this thesis
Sheila Banuelos
Richard Cortes
Atheneus Ocampo, Committee Chair
Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2024

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Acknowledgements
This thesis was written under the guidance of Dr. Atheneus Ocampo, with close reading
and suggestions from Dr. Sheila Bañuelos, and with insights gained from lectures and
conversations with Dr. Richard D. Cortés. I owe a debt of gratitude to these wonderful members
of my thesis committee.
Pivotal to my career journey are Dr. Felipe Martinez who believed I was ready to work
full-time in higher education while I was still in the graduate student mindset, Lilian Barajas who
hired me to work my first job in career services, Marcy Hess who opened a world of possibilities
for me from a single informational interview, and Jessica Trachtenberg who taught me my first
course in career counseling.
One of the most rewarding aspects of my graduate education were the classmates with
whom I had the honor of working alongside and learning from in a communal atmosphere. Their
spirit and perseverance were inspirational. The joys and struggles of group projects have taught
me distinctive styles of collaboration and broadened my definition of achievement. I had the
pleasure of spending many hours on presentations, in classes, and meals with Sylvia Bier,
Victor Valadez, and Karla Barajas. When I think of my graduate program, invariably one of their
names come to mind. I appreciate my past and present managers, colleagues, and supervisees
with whom I spent so much time with on a daily basis since my first college job to the work I do
now at a university. They will never fully grasp how much they have contributed to my career
growth.
Lastly, I thank my family and friends for their patience and support as I worked on my
degree and especially the past year as I focused on this thesis. I am grateful to Jason Fulman, my
STEM inspiration, for his unwavering love and commitment to our collective success.

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………….iv
List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………………..vii
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………….viii
Chapter One: Overview of the Study………………………………………………………………1
Centering My Story………………………………………………………………………..1
The Past Informing the Future……………………………………………………..2
Opportunity Knocks……………………………………………………………….3
Quarterlife Crisis…………………………………………………………………..4
True North…………………………………………………………………………5
Topic Genesis……………………………………………………………………...6
Introduction to the Topic…………………………………………………………………..7
Work and Identity………………………………………………………………….8
Career Education Beginnings……………………………………………………...9
Statement of the Problem………………………………………………………………...11
People in Systems………………………………………………………………...12
Main Research Questions………………………………………………………………...13
Purpose and Significance of the Study……………………………………………………13
Pathways…………………………………………………………………………14
Brief Description of Theoretical Framework……………………………………………………..16
Self-Authorship Theory….……………………………………………………………….16
Social Cognitive Career Theory………………………………………………………….18
Brief Description of Methodology……………………………………………………………….20
Key Terms and Definitions……………………………………………………………………….20
Overall Organization of the Thesis………………………………………………………………23
Chapter Two: Research Design and Approach…………………………………………………...24
Research Design………………….…………….………………………………...………24
Technical Standpoint ……………………………………………………………………26
Trustworthiness of Data and Researcher Bias……………………………………………26
Limitations of the Study………….………………………………………………………26
Connections to Methods and Data………………………………………………………..27
Chapter Three: Review of Relevant Research……………………………………………………28
Global Issues in Education and Career Development……………………………………28
World of STEM…………………………………………………………………………..30
Technocracy and Accountability……...…………………………………………32
The Gig Economy………………………………………………………………..32

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STEM and Accountability………………………………………………………..34
A Good Living……………………………………………………………………36
How External Factors Contribute to Student Major Selection……………………………37
Familial Influence and Support…………………………………………………..37
High School STEM Classes……………………………………………………...38
College STEM Instruction……………………………………………………….40
How Intrinsic Factors Contribute to Student Major and Career Selection………………41
Personal Interests………………………………………………………………...42
Self-Efficacy……………………………………………………………………..44
How External and Intrinsic Factors Affect and Influence One Another…………………45
The Influence of the Familial Variable on Intrinsic Variables of a STEM Major…46
An Extrinsic and Intrinsic Sense of Belonging in STEM…………………………48
Intrinsic Career Ambition Leads to Extrinsic Success……………………………49
Advising STEM Students………………………………………………………………...49
Funding…………………………………………………………………………..50
Theoretical Frameworks………………………………………………………………….52
Social Cognitive Career Theory in Context………………………………………………53
Process of Career Development………………………………………………….53
Foundational Components……………………………………………………….54
Self-Authorship Theory in Context………………………………………………………55
Four Stages of Self-Authorship…………………………………………………..56
Self-Authorship Application and the Chilly Climate of STEM………………….58
Advising Practices………………………………………………………………………..59
Chapter Four: Discussion………………………………………………………………………...61
Critical Factors of Persistence……………………………………………………………61
Advising STEM Students: Integration of SCCT and Self-Authorship…………………..63
Stage 1: Following External Formulas…………………………………………...63
Stage 2: The Crossroads………………………………………………………….64
Stage 3: Becoming the Author of One's Life……………………………………..64
Stage 4: Internal Foundation……………………………………………………...65
Recommendations………………………………………………………………………..66
Creating an Effective Holding Environment……………………………………..66
Addressing a Chilly Climate to Help Develop a Science Identity……………….67
Self-Efficacy……………………………………………………………………..68
Agency…………………………………………………………………………...69
Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………........70
References…………………………………………………………………………......................73

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List of Tables
Table 1: STEM Career Development Factors……………………………………………………19
Table 2: Demographics and Representation of Pharmacists……………………………………..47

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Abstract
The explicit outcome of a college degree is the advancement of knowledge; the implicit
expectation is employment. While the progression of the academic trajectory is monitored using
grades, the acquisition of skills needed for gainful employment is not measured. Through the
combination of nature and nurture, the fortunate student who can tap into both extrinsic and
intrinsic factors, is able realize the modern hallmark of a successful college education: a fully
executed employment contract or graduate school offer letter upon graduation. This paper
considers the process of career advising of STEM students utilizing self-authorship as the
theoretical framework; research into the factors that have led to outcomes for students is
explored such as interest and representation. This thesis posits that to generate the best outcomes
for students and to interrupt the socioeconomic inequities in our society, career advising must
include specific strategies that increase agency within students. Situating the student in the path
of self-authorship while activating the learning partnership model is fundamental to improving
the livelihoods of students who entrust their education, and thus their careers, to their school.

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Chapter One: Overview of the Study
Work has always been an important domain of life from the time of our hunter and
gatherer ancestors, if for no greater reason than survival, to now this technological age in which
work is being redefined by artificial intelligence and the gig economy. Modern life is in part
defined by STEM, as such this study aims to deepen the understanding of career education in
colleges and universities, with a particular focus on STEM fields. This study addresses the
challenges posed by STEM academics and unwelcoming work environments, which can hinder
persistence, especially among women and students of color (Emdin, 2021; Hansen et al., 2024).
The research explores how career education and advising can enhance STEM student retention
and career pathways.
Centering My Story: My Work is My Life and My Life is My Work
I attended a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) secondary
magnet school that was an hour one-way bus ride from my home. The secondary school recruiter
promised a quality education to my sixth-grade self and that conversation propelled me to spend
the five years thereafter traveling twenty miles roundtrip between home and school to take
STEM classes. I finished secondary school learning three computer languages and completed
advanced STEM placement classes. I entered college with my family’s encouragement that I
become a pharmacist. Coming from a family with apothecaries in Vietnam, this was a sound idea
and yet my pursuit of foundational STEM college classes quickly ended the first week of postsecondary education in the invigorating liberal arts climate of my college. Academic pursuits in
other areas such as political theory and history were more intellectually stimulating, and I
abandoned my calculator for the dictionary.

2
I have on occasion pondered about my pivot out of STEM and questioned the point of my
years of focus on writing computer code and memorizing math formulas. Previously, and to no
avail, I considered the forces at play in this decision I made three decades ago and what it would
have taken for me to pursue any area of STEM in college. This thesis uses my own experience as
a case study to understand the processes that would need to have been in place to generate my
persistence in STEM. The desired outcome is a set of practices to inform my future career
advising to STEM students.
While the path to becoming a pharmacist was clear, without motivation, the road was not
a viable option for me. With curiosity propelling my interest in a wide variety of fields, I
experienced the pleasure, sadness, joy, and frustration that comes with deep engagement in the
working world. My job history has spanned the gamut from selling items door to door, to
working with clients who were dual diagnosed with a mental health illness and substance abuse.
I have worked closely with brilliant minds who lead our society and breathed in the same
airspace as others who spent nights below a bus bench retreating from society.
The Past Informing the Future
I viewed each of my jobs as an opportunity to discover the world and to gain a new
perspective on humanity. I brought my whole self to each job while I strived to find insight into
whether the work was a fit for me, my disposition, and my character. I have left specific jobs
very easily, while other jobs were like golden handcuffs keeping me imprisoned in their promise
of financial gain. After two decades of searching, I finally found the right field for me: career
education. My work today as a career specialist at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) allows
me to maximize my talents while exploring areas of my potential as a higher education
professional. Each day, I feel as if I am actualizing using Maslow’s theories as a barometer. I can

3
report I am often in a state of energetic happiness as I run the marathon of work, striving to
ensure the profound career needs of students are considered, and their talents are directed.
The path to this point in my work life felt arduous and unrelenting. In my senior year of
college, while my friends were pursuing investment banking and consulting jobs, I was still
exploring different fields, from publishing to marketing. My resume listed nothing for STEM
and was stacked with government and public policy experiences gained through my studies, an
internship, and a fellowship. Yet my interest in politics waned after a disheartening summer
internship in Washington D.C., and this pivoting away from the path of politics meant I had to
search for a new focus. As I was a highly curious liberal arts student, I was open to anything and
everything when jobs directly connected to my political science major were no longer
interesting. In other words, I did not know what I wanted to do and the fear of being jobless upon
graduation demanded that I be open and explore the opportunities that came my way that shone a
glimmer of security.
Opportunity Knocks
An alum who was a high-ranking marketing executive from a Fortune 500 tech company
in Silicon Valley came to recruit at my college in my senior year of college. She took a liking to
me; I interviewed with her, and she brought me back to work at her company in one of her
divisions. In hindsight, I pitched her on my familiarity with computer languages and science
classes from high school while showed her my leadership skills in several student organizations.
While I was coachable and promising, I did not have professional work experience that related to
technical marketing; however, I still garnered a highly coveted job and was thrust immediately
into corporate America at the age of twenty-one.

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A year into the job, I had a new manager who took me under her wing and encouraged
me to grow and expand by looking for work at our exciting start-up business. Here was another
instance in which someone greased the wheels for me. My interview with the start-up went
smoothly, I was hired immediately and changed roles within a matter of weeks.
Quarterlife Crisis
For a new college graduate, both my first and second jobs in the tech field had prestige
and quickly situated me as a working professional. While they provided a solid income, the jobs
did not bring me meaning. I did my jobs well, yet often wondered why I was doing what I was
doing, and frequently called my family to try to make sense of my life. Two years after college, I
plowed directly into the quarterlife crisis (Robbins & Wilner, 2001). That crisis was precipitated
by working a well-paying job that was not connected to my interests, as I did not care much for
working in that sector of technology nor the issues I was addressing. From the outside, it was
hard for others to understand. I was financially stable, my job was in a nice, air-conditioned
office, I had weekends off to jaunt around, plus a 401K, full benefits, and stock options. My
dissatisfaction was not a real problem by global standards, but it was a first-world problem my
family reminded me I was creating for myself.
While many aspects of the jobs did not align with my burgeoning realization of what
mattered to me, I learned that I enjoyed working on a team, loved brainstorming ideas, and
creating new possibilities, such as developing marketing campaigns, evolving a brand, and
developing partnerships. For all the faults of capitalism, I liked being in a dynamic and fastpaced company, where thousands of people are brought together to pursue a joint mission.
I eventually moved out of my quarterlife crisis by moving to another state with my
husband, leaving the Silicon Valley tech world, buying a home, and becoming busy settling into

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a different life. Yet, deep-seated feelings of unease resurfaced as I continued to work in sectors
that did not provide me with a sense of complete satisfaction -- the kind of satisfaction that
comes with doing what was truly meaningful for me. Fast forward two decades, and my mission
of finding meaning in my professional life became even more urgent as I had already explored
fifteen different fields and had twenty-two jobs. My quarterlife crisis had receded with the
excitement of a new city, yet less than a decade later was a new existential crisis: this mid-life
crisis ran me ragged for eight years. It was through my ongoing search for meaning that I came
across a career counseling class at Santa Monica College that opened my world to the field of
career education. It was during that class that I gained insight and confidence to enter the higher
education field, and my mission in life was to become a career counselor from that point on.
Thus, the purpose of my attending graduate school is to obtain the knowledge and credentials to
engage in career counseling.
True North
No other career considerations mattered now that I had my North Star and USC Rossier
School of Education is the school of choice which brought my dreams to life. Therefore, I was
overjoyed in February 2021 during Rossier’s Preview Day when I saw that the list of internships
included working at a career center at USC. I interviewed and was provided the opportunity to
enter the field of career services as a graduate assistant, and that solidified my interest in career
development as a profession. The joys I gained working with students to discuss their futures and
being in an environment of ongoing conversation about jobs, career discernment, and how to
align the self with work was a source of both intellectual stimulation and practical consideration.
I really enjoyed my work and benefited so much from the sound guidance of my supervisor, who
was also a Rossier alum, Lilian Barajas. That career center, Viterbi Career Connections at the

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USC Viterbi School of Engineering, allowed me to explore the field of career services while I
drew upon my familiarity with STEM.
After five months of interning and an affirming conversation with Dr. Fernando
Martinez, a professor in the USC Educational Counseling program, I was introduced to his
former classmate from the USC Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs program
(PASA). She suggested I apply for an opening as a career specialist at LMU and two months
later, I joined her team in Career and Professional Development specifically focusing on students
interested in government, non-profit, Pre-Law, alums, and the undecided population. After
searching for meaningful work for over twenty years, I found my calling and realized my dream.
I entered this role at the assistant level and was made an associate a year later. I have now
completed two full years at LMU and have created new programming while also reimagining
and transforming the career education programs I oversee -- earning me a nomination for the
2024 Barbara Bonney LMU Staff Member of the Year Award.
Topic Genesis
This is my backstory fueling my curiosity to pursue this thesis topic. With my family
business formerly in eastern medicine, my own secondary education schooling rooted in STEM,
and a headlong dive into working consecutive stints at three STEM companies after college, my
own career trajectory would appear to be best served with STEM as the unifying force and yet I
have a distant interest in STEM. My experience is not unusual with data showing only 30% of
STEM majors staying in a related field despite the over $3 billion invested by the United States
government in STEM secondary education (Grove, 2024). Therefore, this paper is an exploration
to understand the needed factors to engender persistence in a STEM career and to understand

7
ways to address the return on investment of taxpayer dollars that are being funneled specifically
into programming meant to increase STEM careers.
Introduction to the Topic
In America, we are defined by our job and our job title (Mintz, 2024), and it is through
our job that we have a direct method to contribute to society. Work is central to our lives and its
significance to our happiness is palatable as it informs our sense of meaning (Charles-Leija, et
al., 2023). The global wellbeing survey administered by Gallup/Global Wellbeing for Planet
Earth Foundation found that people around the world who enjoy their work are also more likely
to report to be thriving in their lives. In fact, while 37% of workers who enjoy their work rate
their lives positively enough to be considered thriving individuals, 21% of workers who do not
enjoy their work rate their lives the same way -- a 16-percentage-point gap (Clouet &Lai, 2022).
It is the premise of this thesis that effective career advising can help more STEM students
be happy and thrive while finding meaning in their lives through the domain of work. Career
advising is a key component of career education, a comprehensive mix of strategies to ensure
students can enter the workforce successfully after college. Given the structure of the American
labor system, career education is necessary for all students. In primary school, students begin to
familiarize themselves with assorted roles in society by observing the jobs their family members
have, by exposure to career days at school, and by characters on television and the media. Along
the way, students are often asked, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” Up until high
school, their answers are viewed with amusement and curiosity. Once high school graduation is
on the horizon and selecting a college becomes a deadline-driven task, the connection between
college selection and job outcomes comes into focus and has greater weight. The services of
different college career centers are scrutinized by anxious parents hoping for the best outcomes

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for their progeny (Alonso, 2023). The worry that parents have for their children’s future may
abate for a brief period as that anxiety is replaced by the sadness of their children fleeing the
nest, until news of unemployment reignites the fear of joblessness. Finally, panacea settles in the
spring of the students’ senior year of college when the reality of employment becomes a fouralarm fire.
Work and Identity
Pew Research (2023) found that about 39% of workers view their job or career as
extremely or very important to their overall identity. Another 34% consider it somewhat
important, while 27% regard it as not too important or not important at all. Interestingly, 53% of
workers with a postgraduate degree see their job or career as central to their identity. Given the
importance of work as part of one’s identity in America, all students should have the right to
access career education.
Yet a right is not a guarantee. The Princeton Review (2024) ranked the top twenty-five
schools that have the best career services revealing just three public institutions made it onto this
list. While the o of a ranking system inevitably forces a sorting from high to low, it is evident
that private colleges take the majority, 88%, of the top twenty-five spots. Meanwhile, students at
community colleges also receive career services that are intimately intertwined with workforce
development (California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, 2024). One example is
California’s community colleges, which provide over two hundred workforce training programs
across diverse fields. These programs are developed with input from businesses and labor
organizations and are taught by industry professionals (California Community Colleges
Chancellor’s Office, 2023a.). Students who attend community colleges in states like California
with strong workforce development initiatives and students who attend private schools with

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comprehensive career centers have pipelines to the most promising jobs. It is typically at these
two types of institutions that students have access to programs for top tier entry-level jobs in a
variety of industries, be it welding to investment banking.
Career education includes a broad range of tasks and strategies, including
professionalizing the student, helping students understand the meaning of work, guiding students
in one-on-one meetings, integrating assessments as a resource to provide additional insight and
direction, and using overarching career development theories to ground interactions with
students (Tang, 2018). It is a highly organized career center that is equipped to contend with
trends in the economy to steer their students.
Career Education Beginnings
Despite the changing nature of work with gig work and remote-work arrangements, the
foundation of career education rests on research conducted in bygone eras with career education
remaining heavily reliant on Frank Parsons’ three-step process (Parsons, 1909). According to
Parsons, the three-step process includes:
● Develop a clear understanding of oneself, abilities, interests, resources, and limitations.
● Develop knowledge of success, advantages, disadvantages, compensation, opportunities,
and prospects that exist in various lines of work.
● Integrate the above to help oneself in finding meaningful work.
Parsons’ steps were the cornerstone of career education and laid the groundwork for how
students were counseled as he emphasized the “importance of systematic methods of
understanding lines of work and careful study of both individuals and work” (Tang, 2018). Jesse
Davis, a school administrator, believed that “youth needed to understand themselves and

10
occupations to make better career choices and that development of moral consciousness,
character, and ethical behavior would influence an individual's career choices” (Tang, 2018).
The efforts to professionalize students include career development interventions, career
assessment, and career development theories. The changing workforce means that career
education must also be updated to respond to the needs of the American populace. Women have
been diversifying the workforce; however, as they increase in the ranks traditionally occupied by
white males, understanding their trajectory is pivotal to meeting their needs. Ethnic minority
students are another segment of the population that have been understudied yet is a growing and
diverse group.
Career education must also consider the structure of work in the environment and the
meaning of work for each person. Historically, one's identity was intricately intertwined with
work (Bluestein, 2006) as exemplified in the last names of European Americans associated with
trade such as Baker, Butcher, Carpenter, Fisher, Gardner, Hunter, Mason, Potter, and Smith.
However, this connectivity has eroded over time as technology has paved the way for new
careers and changed the way work is done (Tang, 2018). Gibson and Mitchell (2006) observed
seven conventional wisdoms:
1. America is the land of opportunity.
2. One should enter a career that is better than one’s parents, or at least as good.
3. Students prepare for and enter a career choice for life.
4. Advancement is based on meritocracy.
5. Different careers are suited for different genders, with more options available to men.
6. Most jobs are in business and industry.
7. The level of education dictates advancement and opportunities.

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The career educator must hold the multiplicity of truths between the conventional
wisdom they themselves have been taught and absorbed with the changing landscape and
empirical observation of the job marketplace. Therefore, career education must recognize the
challenge in helping students find meaningful work and continually adapt with ever evolving
work demands (Tang, 2018).
Statement of the Problem
Career advisors hailing from America’s master’s in educational counseling programs are
exposed limitedly to career education and its nuances. Completing an educational counseling
master’s program is mandatory for community college counseling positions, such as in the state
of California (California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office, 2023), and the preferred
credential for career advising higher education jobs in other public and private institutions. In
Los Angeles, the educational counseling master’s programs at USC and CSUN each offer one
class on career counseling. The Cal State LA website lists a certificate in career counseling that
appears inactive with missing key program information. There are several issues that stem from
these circumstances. The main issue is the lack of preparation of career specialists to dispense
career advice to this segment of the population. The following is a brief discussion on the
challenges.
First, with only one career counseling course offered in programs such as at USC and is
optional at CSUN, the budding career educator may only scratch the surface of this complex area
of student development and advising. Second, given the dearth of career education classes in
their graduate school program, the aspiring career educator must be able to invest additional time
and resources to acquire more career education knowledge through organizations such as the
National Career Development Association prior to being skilled in career advising. Third, if they

12
can get a job in career services, they can obtain on the job training to improve their skill set while
trying to simultaneously provide quality guidance to students who have significant concerns
about their future. Last, the western model of psychology and mental health counseling serves as
the basis for much of educational counseling graduate programs and career courses reflect this
western approach. This quote by the USC Rossier School of Education exemplifies the issue
“The Educational Counseling program curriculum…blends a counseling-based theoretical
foundation with practical application in student development and higher education” (USC,
2024). This paper utilizes the self-authorship model to provide an intervention to the issue of
lack of preparation for career specialists and their development.
People in Systems
The seed of career education began over one hundred years ago and is rooted in
vocational guidance which espoused the trait and factor theory developed by Frank Parsons
(Parsons, 1909). Such approaches prioritize helping individuals function within systems; one
such system is the system of inequality as the centrality of career education in affecting and
recreating socioeconomic history cannot be underestimated. Bowles and Gintis (1976)
hypothesized the legitimization of inequality in which students come to accept the inequalities
that occur in broader society. While their hypothesis lacked the research to prove this point,
Oakes (1982) researched this phenomenon, finding that students from the lower track levels of
education see their inadequacies as self-created and not due to a greater structural problem
despite receiving less support from their teachers in comparison to the more advanced track
levels students.

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Main Research Question
This study is intended to explore the factors that lead to positive outcomes for students
interested in STEM fields. It also aims to shift career education paradigms in ways that are more
responsive to students' needs along with the ever-shifting landscape of personal and professional
lives. The following research questions will guide this study:
Question 1: What factors are critical to student persistence in STEM career fields?
Question 2: What strategies can career advising employ to improve career outcomes in
the STEM field?
My research into persistence in STEM fields has taken on greater meaning as I connect
my own STEM experiences to now a professional duty to help pre-health students at LMU.
Under my direction will be a new hire for the role of career specialist of health professions, as
such my portfolio has now expanded to ensure pre-health students receive quality career
education so they may succeed along the difficult road ahead in medical careers and programs.
Purpose and Significance of the Study
The significance of the findings will contribute to the existing literature and advance the
understanding of external and intrinsic factors on career decisions in STEM majors. The data
will enable STEM counselors to guide students’ academic and career trajectory. While most
studies focused on individual components in a vacuum without exploring the relationships of the
multiple influences, Otto et al. (2017) discovered that intrinsic success predicted extrinsic
success in a study of psychologists.
College students have four years to train their minds academically, yet they do not view
their college jobs as opportunities to explore their career interests. The halls of colleges are filled
with student staff, and they view their jobs as a means of production to temporarily secure

14
income. This is common as their supervisors also view their jobs as filling a need and not a
process relevant to self-actualization (Maslow, 1954). In contrast to an on-campus job, classroom
learning is typically more revered and is seen as a direct means to better the mind, and, thus,
better one’s life in the long term. Career education is integrated into the academic curriculum for
some students, and for others, it is disconnected from academics. It is not offered in equal
measure even to students at the same university, and there is much room for improvement. This
paper posits that both academics and work are crucial during college to better oneself in the
present and for the longevity of one’s life.
Pathways
Late adolescents such as 16 or 17-year-olds while wrestling with the developmental
conflict of identity assertion versus confusion (Erickson, 1968) must make decisions that have
tremendous influence on their lives. One such decision that has profound and rippling effects on
is their plan after high school. The decision to apply for any number of post-high school
programs can determine income, quality of life, and a whole host of other facets of different
socioeconomic realities. Students who prioritize and attend pre-professional four-year colleges
are on track to focus on a specialty offered by that college. Pre-professional colleges such as
undergraduate business and science schools funnel students into four industries (Indeed, 2024)
that have the highest paying jobs in which twenty-two of the twenty-five highest paying jobs are
in healthcare (Probasco, 2024). On the other hand, students who may attend the same university
but enter as undecided liberal arts students have a more tenuous path to tread because a liberal
arts education inherently embodies a philosophy that contrasts with transactional, capitalist
interests (Rim, 2023). Liberal arts students have several hurdles to overcome. The first hurdle is
intellectual: taking enough classes in a variety of fields to get a sense of what major they will

15
devote to for the remainder of their college education. The second hurdle is professional: how
does one translate that major into a professional career? The third is existential: does this have
meaning to them? (Rim, 2023). The liberal arts are considered liberal because they are also
liberating, focusing on developing free thinkers and innovators rather than just workers.
To illustrate, consider the career milestones of the business school accounting major
versus that of the liberal arts college English major. Both are expected to graduate in 4 years and
invest the same amount of money towards tuition, and yet the accounting major has a very clear
career path (Hamilton, 2024) as they learn quantitative skills and can access a network of
accounting firms ready to train them as interns first, and then hire them as employees later.
While the English major continues to perfect their depth and knowledge of the English language,
their perceived trajectory is broad with a wide range of career opportunities such as teaching,
editing, or journalism. Some graduates find their niche in the media industry, starting out
working as marketing coordinator or public relations specialists. Others use their English degree
as a foundation for law school, eventually becoming attorneys or judges (Seminera, 2024) only
possible after expending additional tuition dollars to obtain one or two more advanced degrees.
The English major may excel in competencies such as critical reasoning and writing, yet those
capabilities are expected of all college graduates. Furthermore, employers have expressed
concern about student preparation (Flaherty, 2021). In contrast, the typical accounting student
will be qualified to start an accounting job right after earning their bachelor’s degree (Hamilton,
2024) because the curriculum for the accounting major is directly linked to the attainment and
development of skills that can immediately be employed in entry-level accounting roles (Becker,
n.d.).

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The STEM student, similar to the accounting student, has a sense of what they want to do
will benefit tangibly from career education as career centers can open doors to employers leading
to job outcomes. Both accounting and STEM students can be trained with technical skills that
allow them to fit neatly into the roles they have been trained to fill. In comparison to the English
major, utilized as a representation for the liberal arts education, the STEM student has a more
defined career path related to their studies given the demand for STEM skills.
STEM occupations, promoted by federal agencies like the National Science Foundation,
are seen as having strong job growth potential. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that
employment in STEM occupations will grow at a rate of 7% compared to 2% for non-STEM
occupations (National Science Board, 2022). Despite the bright outlook for STEM majors,
persistence in STEM is an issue. This study aims to gain a deeper understanding of the factors
that improve STEM majors’ outcomes and the critical role that career education plays.
Brief Description of the Theoretical Frameworks
The theoretical frameworks used in this study are self-authorship and social cognitive
career theory (SCCT). Self-authorship can be useful in a variety of settings, particularly with
populations of students who may experience limited representation of the identities they hold.
SCCT will be explored to evaluate research in the factors for persistence in the field of STEM.
Christine Ignelzi (2000) suggests that by supporting students’ current ways of thinking and
providing structure for new tasks, educators can help them progress towards self-authorship and
foster a stronger sense of identity and autonomy.
Self-Authorship Theory
Marcia Baxter Magolda (2001), building on Robert Kegan’s (1994) work, defines selfauthorship as the internal capacity to define one’s beliefs, identity, and social relations. This

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involves collecting, interpreting, analyzing, and reflecting to form personal perspectives, which
then guide interactions and decisions. Self-authorship is utilized in this study due to the
congruence between the average college student’s age of 25 (National Center for Education
Statistics, 2023) with the key developmental tasks for people in their 20s include gaining
emotional independence, clarity on their identity, and achieving emotional stability while
pursuing a career or further education (Mager, 2021).
Self-authorship theory provides a set of tools that helps the practitioner gain insight into
the advisee’s state of cognitive and emotional maturation and thus services and interventions can
be tailored to that student. The theory of self-authorship provides both the student and
practitioner with a significant berth to explore and yet is an effective container to allow for
growth and change throughout college and beyond. Baxter Magolda (2001) described the path to
self-authorship as a progression through four phases in which students initially follow a path laid
out for them by an authority figure. Successful negotiation of Phases 1, 2, and 3 will allow the
development of Phase 4 in which life decisions are made from having a solidified and
comprehensive system of belief (Baxter Magolda, 1992). Self-authorship arises in a learning
partnership model (Baxter Magolda & King, 2004) which is an advising environment that
encourages students to recognize their dependence on authority and break through externally
imposed constraints to give rise to their own meaning-making processes. The learning
partnership model (LPM) provides the type of advising environment necessary for the advisor
and advisee to constructively discuss the developmental tasks inherent in each of the four phases
of the path to self-authorship.

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Social Cognitive Career Theory
In consideration of the influences that contribute to a student’s choice in major, this study
investigates the relationship between intrinsic elements, aspects, and career decision-making for
students in STEM fields. This paper utilizes Robert W. Lent, Steven D. Brown, and Gail
Hackett’s social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to examine critical factors in the constructs of
extrinsic factors such as familial support, education, self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations,
and personal goals. The SCCT framework developed by Lent, Brown, and Hackett in 1994
aimed to explain three key aspects of career development which are (1) the development of
academic and career interests, (2) educational and career choices, and (3) achievement of career
success. SCCT is powerful as it examines the factors influencing the decisions students make
regarding their STEM education and career choices. SCCT is based on Albert Bandura’s social
cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) and incorporates three main variables which are (1) selfefficacy beliefs, (2) outcome expectations, and (3) goals. The theory also considers the influence
of personal factors (like interests and abilities) and environmental factors (like social support and
opportunities) on career development.
SCCT is an ideal theory to also consider self-authorship due to the symbiotic nature of
these two theories. Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) is effective for self-authorship because
it emphasizes self-efficacy empowering individuals to control their career paths while
considering outcome expectations increasing the muscle in the student to anticipate the results of
their career choices to best align actions with personal goals. Meanwhile, SCCT also highlights
personal goals which is congruent with self-authorship in which students are encouraged to set
and strive for goals, leading to personal fulfillment. An aspect of self-authorship promotes
adaptability in the student through conversations that provide strategies to manage change and

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overcome obstacles. Overall, both SCCT and self-authorship are highly pragmatic and activating
theories that support individuals in taking ownership of their career journeys. Both frameworks
are applicable to college students to encourage persistence in STEM.
Table 1: STEM Career Development Factors
FACTOR FINDING SUMMARY
External
Familial Influence
and Support
Family can affect student’s confidence, self-efficacy, and ability when
entering the STEM field. Familial support does not only come from
family members who are already in STEM; it can also come from
parents/guardians who are not necessarily associated with STEM yet
nurture their children once children show an interest in STEM.
High School Stem
Classes
Teacher support helps students excel and prepares them for upper-level
college courses. Exposure to both academic and applied STEM courses
foster positive attitudes towards STEM careers and develops essential
reasoning and logical skills
College Stem
Instruction
Students who declared or remained in STEM enjoyed their science
lessons, whereas those who dropped or changed majors indicated that
poor instruction was a primary cause.
Intrinsic
Personal Interest
and Self Efficacy
Research has identified personal interest and self-efficacy as crucial.
When these qualities coexist in a student, they create a powerful drive
that supports the successful completion of a STEM major and the
transition into a related profession.
Interplay between Factors
Sense of Belonging Extrinsic belonging involves familiarity with people and surroundings,
while intrinsic belonging is about feeling accepted and supported.
Career Ambition Students, who look beyond choosing a major in STEM and instead
focus on a career ambition in STEM, achieve both extrinsic and
intrinsic success.

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Brief Description of the Methodology
This study uses a literature review methodology which is crucial for understanding
STEM career persistence research for several reasons. This methodology helps to build on
existing knowledge, provides insights into patterns in STEM education and career persistence,
and informs career education practice. A literature review can highlight areas where research is
fragmented and spans multiple disciplines and can serve as a valuable tool for synthesizing
research findings and identifying gaps that require further investigation (Snyder, 2019). This
literature review of STEM persistence has facilitated the development and application of the
theoretical frameworks of self-authorship and SCCT.
In parallel, this paper also utilizes a descriptive-interpretive approach using my own
career journey as qualitative research. A descriptive-interpretive approach allows parts of this
study to be sourced from my own experiences and career decision-making to serve as data
points. There is greater flexibility than a traditional literature review due to the firsthand
reporting nature and interspersed in this paper are open-ended and exploratory questions about
my foray into STEM. This process is considered methodological pluralism which promotes a
range of qualitative research styles, considers research methods as evolving and adaptable, and
balances structure and creativity (Elliott & Timulak, 2021).
Key Terms and Definitions
Career assessments: “Career assessments ask questions about your preferences and
strengths to identify careers that might best suit you. When you work in a career that fits your
interests and skills, you are more likely to feel job satisfaction and achieve success” (Career One
Stop, 2024).

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Career center/career development center/career services offices: “A career center…is a
dedicated department or resource within a university or college campus that provides a wide
range of support, guidance, and resources to help students and alumni in their career
development and job search efforts” (Handshake, 2024).
Career development and career development process: “Career Development refers to a
life-long process of managing learning, work, and transitions in order to move toward a
personally determined and evolving preferred future” (UNEVOC, 2009).
Career education: “Career education refers to both a historical education reform
movement and an evolving concept that reflects a process of bringing occupational relevance to
the academic curriculum and informing adolescents about themselves and the world of work”
(Rojewski, 2006).
Career readiness: “Career readiness is a foundation from which to demonstrate requisite
core competencies that broadly prepare the college-educated for success in the workplace and
lifelong career management” (NACE, nd).
External factors: Influences outside the individual that affect their career development.
Key external factors include environmental such education and job opportunities, and influences
from family, friends, mentors, and peers, which can affect career decisions.
Extrinsic factors: Factors outside of the individual that affects behavior, motivation, or
decision-making. Examples money, prestige, or societal acceptance and can significantly shape
career choices.
Intrinsic factors: Intrinsic factors, such as personal interests, values, and passions,
influence behavior, motivation, and decision-making. They guide individuals to pursue careers
that match their interests, resulting in higher job satisfaction and long-term commitment.

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Meaningful work: Work that includes “elements of self-oriented experiences, such as
developing the inner self or self-expression, alongside other-oriented experiences, such as
belonging and service…meaningfulness is associated with a sense of “integrated wholeness”
(Bailey et al, 2018).
Professionalizing: The process that “involves the development of skills, identities, norms,
and values associated with becoming part of a professional group” (Levine, 2001).
Science identity: Science identity is a concept that describes how individuals, especially
women of color, see themselves within the realm of science and how this identity impacts their
perseverance and achievements in STEM (Carlone and Johnson, 2007).
Self-authorship Theory: Self-authorship theory explains how individuals develop their
identity, beliefs, and social relationships. It highlights a transition from relying on external
authorities to achieving an internal understanding of oneself (Baxter Magolda, 2001; Kegan,
1994).
Social cognitive career theory (SCCT): SCCT explains career development through three
main lenses: how individuals develop academic and career interests, make educational and career
choices, and achieve success in their academic and career endeavors (Lent et al., 1994).
STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics is an educational approach
that combines these fields to enhance critical thinking, problem-solving, and real-world
application of knowledge. The main goal of STEM education is to prepare students for a
dynamic job market by developing skills that promote innovation and excellence in vast
industries (DeVille, 2024).
Work: “...work,” which represents the need to do, to achieve, and to know that one is
needed by others and is important. A commonly accepted definition of work, as advanced by

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O’Brien (1986), is “the expenditure of effort in the performance of a task” (1986, p. 1). At its
best, work provides a means for survival, social connections, and self-determination (Blustein,
2006; NCDA, 2011).
Overall Organization
My personal struggles as a liberal arts student provide me with the perspective to
recognize the issues with career education and the ardent desire to improve it. Chapter 1 traced
my career journey, highlighting pivotal professional milestones, the lessons learned along the
way, and the arrival at my current position. My relationship with STEM has been ongoing, at
times taking center stage in my education and work and will now become active again with my
oversight of the success of career coaching pre-health students. The topic of this thesis was
introduced along with a statement of the problem, main research questions, the purpose and
significance of the study, a brief description of the theoretical frameworks, a brief description of
the methodology, and the key terms utilized throughout the thesis.
Chapter 2 consists of the research design and approaches utilized for the literature review.
Limitations to the study will be addressed, the design and technical standpoint will be defined,
and the trustworthiness of the data, including researcher bias, will be covered. Connections to
methods and data presented in the following chapter will be established.
Chapter 3 is the review of relevant literature to the topic and will explore related themes
that emerged from scholarly works connected to the research questions. Societal issues at the
intersection of STEM and work will also be explored.
Lastly, Chapter 4 will consist of suggestions for career development interventions,
potential qualitative research, and concluding thoughts.

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Chapter Two: Research Design and Approach
This study is intended to explore the factors that lead to positive outcomes for students
interested in STEM fields. It aims to improve career education programming for the STEM
student by first understanding the factors that lead to STEM outcomes and issues that are barriers
to success in STEM majors. With clearer knowledge of the multitude of factors, career services
can better expend resources to produce best results for the student. Therefore, the two questions
that this thesis seeks to answer are as follows:
Question 1: What factors are critical to student persistence in STEM career fields?
Question 2: What strategies can career advising employ to improve career outcomes in
the STEM field?
This research into persistence in STEM has taken on greater meaning for me as I am
actively searching on behalf of LMU, a career specialist to support pre-health students full time
Therefore, I need to answer the first question so I can be informed on how to answer the second
question. On a theoretical level, the recommendations grounded in self-authorship may
contribute to the existing coaching literature. The immediate by-product and significance of this
thesis is its applicability to improve my own career programming and in turn contribute to the
larger conversation regarding improving STEM career coaching at my university.
Research Design
This study utilizes a literature review to investigate STEM career persistence, building on
existing knowledge, identifying patterns, and informing career education practices. It highlights
different areas of research and synthesizes findings to pinpoint gaps requiring further
investigation (Snyder, 2019). Additionally, the study adopts a descriptive-interpretive approach,

25
incorporating my career trajectory as qualitative research. This method offers flexibility through
firsthand reporting and includes open-ended, exploratory questions about the author’s STEM
experiences. This methodological pluralism supports diverse qualitative research styles and
views research methods as adaptable (Elliott & Timulak, 2021).
There are five types of source material that make up the literature review in this study.
The first type of material is institutionalized as the backbone of college career counseling
classes. These reference books espouse specific ideas that become the status quo. An example of
such a book was utilized in the singular class on career counseling, Career Development: Theory
and Process, in the USC Educational Counseling master’s program and titled Career
Development and Counseling: Theory and Practice in a Multicultural World (Tang, 2018). The
works are written for the practitioner, with the academician having taken great care in grounding
the data and advice, and the sources are very much a reference guide. The second source is
governmental databases on labor and education statistics used to inform decision makers such as
the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics. The third type of
material is well-researched and written peer-reviewed papers in reputable journals that cover
aspects of career education and development such as the Journal of Career Development. The
fourth type of material is an aggregate of articles in popular higher education media channels and
business newspapers such Inside Higher Ed and Forbes. The fifth type of material was suggested
by my thesis advisor, Dr. Atheneus Ocampo, who provided specific substantive articles that
expanded my thinking on inequality such as “What’s Wrong with Technocracy?” and
“Classroom Social Relationships: Exploring the Bowles and Gintis Hypothesis.”

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Technical Standpoint
This literature review-based thesis takes a social cognitive career theory (SCCT)
approach which is symbiotic with self-authorship. I leveraged the reading material in my USC
Educational Counseling courses specifically pulling from five courses on career counseling,
psychological counseling, student development, advising, and equity. The USC and LMU
libraries were the main sources where I looked for scholarly and peer-reviewed articles.
Trustworthiness of Data and Researcher Bias
I did not persist in a STEM field, and I seek to understand my own decisions. Therefore,
the lens through which I select my research articles may be a response to my own search for
closure. I have personally been supported through career development opportunities but was not
a recipient of thorough career coaching while I was in college. At that time, career coaching and
counseling were not offered extensively by my alma mater. Instead, the services were more
perfunctory in helping get my resume and cover letter in order. Therefore as the researcher with
this type of experience, I approach this study with two frames of mind: I believe in the value of
career education, as my professional work is dedicated to helping students learn more about
themselves and develop their career paths, yet I am also someone who seeks to push the
envelope to create new initiatives. In the desire to create innovative ideas, I may be more drawn
to research that points to problems with STEM persistence.
Limitations of the Study
There were limitations with this study. The main limitation of this study was that it was
based on secondary research. I was not able to assess out the premise regarding success factors
such as intrinsic motivation and familial support with subjects. The second limitation is that the
correlation between extrinsic circumstances and intrinsic facets has not been thoroughly explored

27
in the research studies of the available literature on factors that influence STEM students.
Therefore, reviewing limited secondary research through the SCCT model renders an incomplete
response to SCCT as a theoretical framework. The third gap within the current body of research
is data on college students’ prior knowledge and experiences that affect their selected college
major and career decisions, therefore one of the three key components of SCCT, development of
interests, could not be fully explored. If this thesis included subjects, a survey could be
administered to inform this study and further this area of research.
Connections to Method and Data
The connection between the method and data began with a literature review method and
was supported with descriptive-interpretive qualitative research. Data collection came from
career reference books, peer research articles, popular media, and my own experiences. This
combined methodology utilized my own previous and upcoming professional advising interest in
STEM with the availability of STEM career education research. The outcome of studies in the
literature review was analyzed using a thematic analysis seeking categorizations that were
recurring and evident. There were multiple challenges with the writing and research process of
this paper over the past year from the initial idea of creating a unifying theory on inclusive
pedagogy in career education to increasing accessibility to consider how to position career
education as a human right. Both of those topics are worthwhile; however, they proved to be a
challenge as they were extensive ideas and my time to research, ideate, develop, and write was
limited due to my demanding work life.

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Chapter Three: Review of Relevant Literature
The purpose of this study aims to gain a deeper understanding of the background and
machinations of career education and how it is implemented in colleges and universities. STEM
education is considered particularly challenging due to its subjects' inflexibility, which often fails
to adapt to students' individual needs (Emdin, 2021). Another challenge in the STEM field is the
concept that unwelcoming STEM environments can lead to low persistence rates, which is welldocumented, and research shows that a lack of belonging in STEM fields can negatively impact
students’ persistence, particularly women and students of color (Hansen, et al., 2024). As such,
this work seeks to explore the role of career development in education and, specifically, in
STEM education to identify strategies that could lead to greater persistence of STEM students to
STEM career pathways. Further, this study explores the role of career advising and the support
of students in pursuit of their career objectives. The following chapter will highlight the currently
available literature on this topic. Initially, this chapter will contextualize STEM education and
the factors that contribute to student participation in STEM fields. Much of the discussion will
center student influences in their STEM education experience. The literature review chapter will
then discuss career advising and its impact on students and, specifically, STEM students. The
chapter will close with a discussion on the theoretical framework of SCCT and self-authorship
that will guide the analysis of this topic.
Global Issues in Education and Career Development
This study aims to delve into the intricacies of career education and its implementation in
higher education institutions. This research seeks to explore the role of career development in
education, particularly within STEM fields, to identify strategies that could enhance the
persistence of STEM students in their career pathways. Additionally, the study investigates the

29
role of career centers in supporting students’ career aspirations. The following chapter will
review the existing literature on this topic, beginning with an overview of STEM education and
the factors influencing student participation in STEM fields, with a focus on the student
experience in STEM education.
Career development has been investigated across the globe with significant research
generated in North America and East Asia. Both regions produce analysis to help tackle the
growing number of young adults who are not enrolled in school, employment, or training. More
students either graduate without a job or choose to delay graduation due to career indecision
(Doo & Park, 2019). This is particularly concerning as society requires innovative thinking, in
which STEM can be a strong player, to combat the very problems that have arisen with
technological advances.
Colleges must also substantiate their tuition, and in turn, career outcomes have come
under scrutiny. Locating a job post college is considered a marker of a purposeful and successful
education, which serves to help validate the cost of education (Alonso, 2023). Helping students
with their career decision-making has blossomed into a key service that is offered at institutions
across the United States. Career education has become an important selling feature for college
admissions to attract top students around the world (Alonso, 2023).
Career centers are well meaning and produce a variety of programming with the aims of
appealing to students while providing a much-needed service. Programs range from skills
building on evergreen topics such as resumes and interview prep, info sessions co-hosted with
employers, networking opportunities with alums, and visits to companies and institutions.
One such metric is the notion of career readiness so students may function and deliver on
the (future) responsibilities they are hired to do for an organization (NACE, 2023). Career

30
readiness is defined as the attainment and demonstration of eight interlocking competencies that
prepare college graduates for successful entry into the workforce and lifelong career
management. These competencies include career and self-development, communication, critical
thinking, equity and inclusion, leadership, professionalism, teamwork, and technology. Together,
these competencies provide a framework for higher education institutions and employers to
prepare and assess students and new graduates for career success (NACE, 2023). These
competencies are evolving as society, students, and employers evolve over time.
World of STEM
The first science fair was The Children’s Fair held in 1928 at the American Institute in
New York City. Its purpose was to connect students with nature and over time, science fairs
expanded to include scientific fields such as physics, engineering, astronomy, and biology. By
the end of World War II, the purpose shifted to nurturing future scientists (Hill, 2017). Having
been a part of the American zeitgeist for close to one hundred years, the science fair has become
a trope used in Hollywood. All the Tropes (2019) lists science fairs as part of the storyline
ranging in importance from being plot driving to a minor detail. Usually, an exploding volcano
or a model of the solar system is involved along with parents who swoop in to help last minute or
who decide to take over their child’s project. The trope has shown up seventeen times in
animation, eight times in television shows, and six times in films, with a scattering of science
fairs tracked across web comics, literature, newspaper comics, and video games (All the Tropes,
2019).
The presence of science fairs in shows aimed at small children such as Arthur on PBS to
mature shows such as The Simpsons reflects the encouragement of the American populace
towards the STEM field. Science fair competitions can begin as early as elementary school and

31
each year, approximately 10 million students in the United States take part in science fairs,
according to Kenneth Hess, CEO of Science Buddies, a nonprofit offering online science
learning tools and project ideas. While that is a considerable number of students, taken in
perspective, it does only represent 18% of the nation’s 54.8 million K–12 students (Hill, 2017). I
am in the majority of students who did not enter a science fair despite attending Gompers
Secondary School at the same time as several older classmates were able to compete in the
International Science and Engineering Fair (Fan, 1989).
Upon entering secondary school, the student can continue exploring their STEM interest
in organizations such as Science Olympiad which may provide a fun and competitive
environment to explore STEM (Smith, et al., 2021). The presence of STEM in cartoons and
comedies coupled with extracurricular activities in real life position STEM as an exciting and
worthwhile endeavor in the student’s academic journey. The involvement of parents provides the
buy-in as a society and science fairs backed by large tech firms generate positive PR and
positioning for the likes of Intel, Google, and Siemens which give away scholarships ranging
from $25,000 to $100,000 (Hill, 2017). Government sponsored fairs also exist such as the Junior
Science and Humanities Symposium, a high school competition in collaboration with the U.S.
Department of Defense. With society embracing science fairs, the local high school science
teacher to the people behind computer screens who run the likes of tech giants receive
admiration and respect. It would appear that STEM can do little wrong, and engineers tapping
away at keyboards are entrusted with a variety of decisions from internet speed to mining for
precious metal in conflict regions (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2023). Our choices
have consequences, from the components in our phones to decisions about saving a few dollars
out of convenience. The following section explores STEM's impact beyond the science fair.

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Technocracy and Accountability
A by-product of tech advancement, and the subsequent self perpetuating feedback loop, is
the establishment of the American technocracy of expert technologists. While this thesis is not a
study of technocracy, the term finds a home in this paper given the relationship with STEM and
requires a discussion. Technocracy, like any of other political system, would be ill defined by a
few sentences; yet to summarize, Matthew Cole (2022) referenced Christopher Bickerton and
Carlo Accetti’s explanation that technocracy is the delegation of political power to individuals
who gain legitimacy through their technical proficiency and administrative skills. This transition
shifts authority away from elected officials and the public. The justification for technocracy is
that experts, being distanced from political pressures, can make superior decisions compared to
the public or its representatives. Cole (2022) finds Ignacio Sanchez-Cuenca echoed this
sentiment, describing technocracy as political decision-making by appointed, non-elected
officials with technical expertise. The fundamental idea of technocracy is to depoliticize
decision-making for the sake of efficiency and to insulate it from the democratic process
The Gig Economy
Influential technologists matter not only to individuals pursuing STEM careers, but the
millions of people affected by the products their companies create -- products that shift society
and therefore change the face of work. America finds this explosion of change inherent in the gig
economy, such as ridesharing apps like Uber, have driven workers in entrenched businesses,
such taxi drivers, to the edge of despair (Bruder, 2018). Veteran drivers were severely impacted
as Uber rapidly disrupted their industry, which had long provided stable income for a segment of
the working-class in cities, such as New York. Taxi drivers faced significant challenges from

33
Uber; data showed that rideshare pickups in Manhattan increased by 1.4 million from June 2014
to June 2015, while taxi pickups decreased by 1.1 million during the same period (Bruder, 2018).
In 2018, Doug Schifter, a cab driver in New York City, ended his life on the steps of City
Hall to protest the taxi industry’s decline. Schifter had spent over 40 years in the taxi industry
(Bruder, 2018). Before his death, Schifter posted on Facebook about the financial pressures
cabbies face due to services like Uber. Lowered costs may translate to savings for the consumer
and yet this is at the expense of thousands of taxi drivers across America who viewed driving as
their career and were wiped out after significant investment in their business. Between 2006 and
2014, New York City taxi drivers had to pay as much as $1.2 million for their taxi medallion, a
permit that allowed them to operate (National Credit Union Administration, 2020). The Uber
driver had to pay $0 as there was no permitting structure in place.
Rideshare drivers like Uber drivers operate legally, albeit outside the set of laws that
regulate taxi drivers. With a low barrier to entry requiring just a cell phone and a car in the early
days of the rideshare industry, anyone can become a driver in the budding gig economy.
However, the highly transactional nature of the rideshare business does not facilitate the sense
that there is community between the workers for the workers (Harnett, 2018). Without this
important sense of connection to others, the business of driving is an alienating type of work, not
at the level of taxi driving, a true profession, immortalized in shows such as Taxi which ran from
1978 to 1982 (Vaughan, 2023) about a group of cabbies in New York City and the interpersonal
dynamics at their workplace.
Veena Dubal, a law professor at UC Hastings, conducted an ethnographic study
comparing cab drivers with Uber drivers. She found that identity is crucial for cab drivers and
less so with drivers in the gig economy. “The sort of dignity that people got from their work

34
when they were full-time professional drivers is just not possible with Uber” (Harnett, 2018).
The upheaval in the taxi industry left Schifter physically impaired, financially desperate, and
emotionally devastated, as documented in his writings over three years. Despite proposing a cap
on app-driven services, then New York City mayor Bill de Blasio did little to rebalance the
playing field between the unregulated rideshare companies and high regulated taxi businesses.
Schifter publicly criticized de Blasio for not addressing the drivers’ plight in a column he wrote
for a trade publication in NYC (Bruder, 2018). Without government intervention as exemplified
at the time of Schifter’s passing, there is a concern for consideration: in a technocracy, which
other governing body can provide the checks and balances needed to limit the power of
technocrats and rein in their capitalist interests?
STEM and Accountability
Money is concentrated in the hands of the few, many who are leaders in STEM
companies, yet remain out of the public eye such as Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, and NVIDIA
CEO, Jensen Huang (Dargan, 2023). While these obscure figures are eclipsed by the name
recognition of household names such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk, all of the technologists share
the immense power in decision making over the lives of millions of Americans and the future of
work as they forge ahead in shaping the landscape of artificial intelligence.
It would be a stretch to connect Schifter’s suicide to the CEO of Uber, Dara
Khosrowshahi, who took the reign in 2017, yet it is deeply trouble that Schifter was not the first
driver to commit suicide; other livery drivers such as Danilo Corporán Castillo, had taken his life
due to similar struggles (Bruder, 2018). Castillo jumped from the roof of his Harlem apartment
building after learning that he may lose his license for accepting an unauthorized cab request.
Castillo’s suicide note was found on the back of a summons from the Taxi & Limousine

35
Commission. How does such a governing body tasked to maintain protocols to safeguard the
public protect the very workers who, in this turn of events, become the downtrodden requiring
protection from anachronistic polices that further perpetuate disruptions to their very livelihood?
STEM is a global force that impacts society and individuals on multiple levels. In the
following sections, the work in STEM is surveyed in its interaction with individuals and the
confluent factors that impact each person pursuing this field. I will share my experiences at my
third job at a STEM company which consisted of me selling and marketing the company’s
product which ranged from prized polished mirrors that went into educational telescopes to
lenses that were placed in machine guns and airborne missile defense systems.
Upon joining the company three years out of college, I was proud of the telescopes the
company made and was initially unaware of the rest of the product lines on the manufacturing
floor. My job was to generate positive press with the local newspapers to promote the bids the
company won. I was new to the City of Pittsburgh and made a good friend, a journalist, at the
local paper who was my age. I enjoyed sharing the latest updates on the progress at the company
and we both pored over the technical spec sheets. I found the strong personalities at the company
intriguing as they were so different from the people I knew in Silicon Valley. Lastly, the job
allowed me to continue forging ahead through my mid twenties with my identity as a tech person
intact, the only work identity I knew after college. It was not until a brash businesswoman
questioned what happened to the person on the receiving end of the artillery and lasers that my
company had a hand in bringing to market that I began to consider my work in the context of
humanity. I then grasped my complicity in the sales of arms and perpetuation of wars.
To a lesser degree, usage of rideshare services creates a nation of consumers complicit in
the decimation of the hundred-year-old field of taxi driving and the livelihood of taxi drivers. At

36
the defense firm, I confronted my own crossroads as to whether I should continue to focus on my
work which technically did not directly hurt anyone and offered me stability or whether I
listened to my conscience. I chose the latter and do not have any regrets. That began my pivot
away from tech and into real estate.
A Good Living
The average salary for a worker in the STEM field is more than twice a non-STEM
worker: ~ $95,000 versus $40,000 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022). Meanwhile, the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics projected a need for approximately 1 million more professionals in
STEM than the country will produce over the next decade for the United States to continue to
play a leading role in the science and technology fields (Xue and Larson, 2015). Interestingly,
there is both a STEM shortage and a STEM surplus; both private industry and government have
shortages, while the academic sector has a surplus. STEM includes a diverse array of careers,
from mathematicians to biomedical researchers, spanning different degree levels. The U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate there is a shortage of qualified professionals in fields like
nuclear and electrical engineering Ph.Ds. who are U.S. citizens, while there is a surplus of
biology Ph.Ds. seeking academic roles (Xue and Larson, 2015). To keep pace with demands, the
United States must not only develop its student base towards the lucrative field of STEM, but
there must also be more proactive steering towards different sectors.
Considering the necessity to provide more effective guidance towards STEM fields, it is
critical that the educational system be more attuned to how students make their decisions to enter
this field to ensure the needs of government and private industry are met. Yet, while there is
more data on STEM careers relative to other fields, there is still limited research that examines

37
how STEM college students decide their major and career path as well as the dynamics that
influence those decisions.
In consideration of the abundant influences that contribute to a student’s career decision
making, this study investigates the relationship between intrinsic elements, external aspects, and
career decision-making for students in STEM fields. The correlation between external
circumstances and intrinsic facets has not been thoroughly explored in the research studies of the
available literature on factors that influence STEM students. One such gap within the current
body of research is data on college students’ prior knowledge and experiences that affect their
selected college major and career decisions. Therefore, the next sections of this study seek to
understand how these variables impact a student’s career choice.
How External Factors Contribute to Student Major Selection
Researchers identified parent occupation, high school classes, and college-level
instruction as the prominent factors in students’ aspirations and attitudes towards STEM (Cho et.
al, 2010; Gottfried et al., 2015; Heilbronner, 2011; Moakler et al., 2014; Wang, 2013). In sum,
their findings suggest that the environment in which students were raised and the information
that they were introduced to throughout their education careers impacted the way they
approached their major selection process and established their future goals. The following
sections will discuss this in greater detail.
Familial Influence and Support
A myriad of external factors influence students’ decision to major and pursue careers in
STEM. According to Cho et al. (2010), one of the pronounced external factors was direct
exposure to the field. Students who had a nurse in the family were more likely to work as nurses
because they focused on the positive aspects of the profession. They viewed nursing as a

38
rewarding and fulfilling career whereas students who did not have any familial connections to
nursing thought more about the tough working conditions and day-to-day responsibilities (Cho et
al., 2010).
The research undertaken by Moakler et al. (2014) reported that students with parents in
the STEM field were “1.5 times more likely to choose a STEM major” (p. 137). As children
observed their parents' engagements in STEM, they grew interest in and respect for STEM
careers over time (Moakler et al., 2014). Firsthand experiences in science or mathematical
activities sparked curiosity at an early age. These children gradually developed a passion for
STEM by the time they entered college (Moakler et al., 2014). Additionally, receiving personal
guidance and mentorship from parents contributed to academic success and minimized any
“uncertainty and barriers towards a STEM occupation” (Moakler et al., 2014, p. 138).
It is evident from these studies that the greater the exposure an individual has to a
professional field, the greater the likelihood that they would pursue that field. This is particularly
true for STEM fields as indicated above with families playing a critical role in shaping the
trajectory of students. As such, educators must consider ways to leverage familial influence in
supporting STEM students.
High School STEM Classes
High school curriculum is another external factor that shapes students’ performance and
enthusiasm in STEM (Wang, 2013). Secondary schools that provided a wide variety of math and
science intensive courses graduated more students interested in pursuing STEM majors and
persisting in STEM throughout their college careers (Wang, 2013). Due to the continuous
support from their teachers, students not only excelled in science and math as seniors but also
were well prepared to pass upper-level college courses (Wang, 2013). Gottfried et al. (2016) also

39
confirmed that high school course exposure is a key factor in determining students’ major
choices in STEM. Secondary schools that offered both academic and applied STEM courses
were found to increase positive attitudes in STEM disciplines and careers as well as foster “highorder reasoning and logical skills required further down the pipeline” in the profession (Gottfried
et al., 2015, p. 179).
My own experience at a STEM magnet school helped me develop a deep appreciation
and comfort with STEM subjects and I took every Advanced Placement (AP) STEM course my
school offered. Despite not doing well enough on the tests to bring AP credits to college, I still
considered myself capable of the work as my grades in STEM classes were high, I was able to
graduate secondary school with an above 4.0 GPA as salutatorian, and I finished high school one
year early. As I reflect on what may appear as missed opportunities in obtaining AP credit, I
recall being unfazed because my identity was rooted in being a good student, not necessarily a
science student. I did not enjoy STEM more than other subjects such as English and history, and
I had several other interests that included competing on the Constitution team at the state level
and DECA, a business-oriented organization, at the local level. In contrast, I did not compete in
my high school’s Science Olympiad which was a top-ranking team in the nation. Instead, I
participated in fundraising for the team selling items from a brochure to help send my classmates
to competition.
While I studied STEM subjects, I did not have what researchers Carlone and Johnson
(2007) termed science identity; I thought of myself as someone interested in business and had
even considered transferring to a business magnet school in the tenth grade. Given that I was on
track to graduate a year early at my secondary school, I decided against switching institutions.
Carlone and Johnson (2007) developed their science identity model to understand the

40
experiences of successful women of color in science. They found that recognition by others is
crucial for women in three science identity trajectories: research scientists, altruistic scientists,
and disrupted scientists. Research scientists were passionate and recognized by faculty, altruistic
scientists used science for altruism, and disrupted scientists sought recognition but faced
challenges due to gender, ethnic, and racial factors. Their groundbreaking study refined science
identity theory and highlighted how women of color navigate the culture of science.
Continuous teacher support helps students excel and prepare them for upper-level college
courses. Exposure to both academic and applied STEM courses foster positive attitudes towards
STEM careers and develops essential reasoning and logical skills. Yet, as noted from my own
engagement with STEM in secondary school, the development of a science identity is necessary
to persist in STEM.
College STEM Instruction
Heilbronner (2011) also found that college instruction plays a significant role in the
major decision-making process. Students who declared or remained in STEM enjoyed their
science lessons, whereas those who dropped or changed majors indicated that poor instruction
was a primary cause.
The importance of both hands-on and minds-on activities in engaging students in science
is critical to creating a positive learning experience in STEM. Hands-on activities provide direct
experiences, while minds-on activities help students understand scientific concepts. These
challenging experiences, especially at higher education levels, can influence students’ choice of a
science major. Effective strategies include cognitive challenges and establishing new conceptual
frameworks. Science literacy, involving reading, writing, and oral practices, are also crucial
(Heilbronner, 2011).

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In contrast, traditional academic science coursework can sometimes lack the challenge
and motivation needed to keep students engaged, causing some to drop out. Enrichment
programs outside the classroom can help sustain student interest. This is an instance where
science competitions can be a strategic factor in improving persistence. The quality of high
school math and science courses is crucial, with the type of science instruction and time spent on
key concepts being significant predictors of success in college science courses. Heilbronner
(2011) found negative aspects include an overreliance on teacher demonstrations and copious
class projects leading to diminished interest in STEM.
Moreover, those who were satisfied with the content being taught and the level of rigor of
their STEM courses were motivated by their instructors and peers to continue their education,
expand their knowledge, and seek opportunities in the field (Heilbronner, 2011). Thus, students
who had positive experiences in their STEM college courses often pursued higher levels of
education, such as PhDs or equivalent degrees (Heilbronner, 2011).
In summary, Heilbronner (2011) found that college instruction plays a crucial role in
students’ decisions to stay in or leave STEM majors. Enjoyable science lessons encouraged
students to remain in STEM, while poor instruction led others to switch majors. For those
already in careers, unattractive lifestyles, such as long hours and family incompatibility, were
key reasons for leaving. Positive experiences in STEM courses motivate students to pursue
higher education and careers in the field. The study also highlighted that participants found long
hours, family incompatibility, and inflexible hours led to departures from the field.
How Intrinsic Factors Contribute to Student Major and Career Selection
In this next section, personal interest and self-efficacy are highlighted as intrinsic factors
that may contribute to student major and career selection in STEM. To be discussed are several

42
studies which isolate personal interest and self-efficacy as key determinants salient in directing
and helping students persist in pursuing the STEM fields (Hegerfeld-Baker et al., 2015;
Heilbronner, 2011; Lent et al., 1986; Moakler et al., 2014; Strayhorn, 2015; Tollefson et al.,
2016). Additionally, both elements’ existence as co-occurring qualities in a student coalesced
into a forceful drive that propelled the successful completion of a STEM major and transition
into a related profession.
Personal Interest
A study by Heilbronner (2011) sought to identify the influences that motivated students’
decision to pursue STEM degrees and revealed personal interest as a main intrinsic quality.
Heilbronner (2011) established that many participants showed early signs of interest in science
related courses and continued to hone their skills in STEM throughout their undergraduate
education. In a study conducted by Sosniak (1985) on neurologists, they reported setting up their
own experiments and investigations as children, enjoying the experience of seeing what they
could discover.
Researchers propose that innate abilities, referred to as scientific natural abilities are
crucial for success in STEM fields. Recognizing and nurturing unrealized potential is essential,
and early SAT administration can facilitate this. Data indicated that students identified through
early SAT administration revealed that over half earned doctoral degrees and half entered STEM
careers, suggesting that SAT math scores can predict STEM aptitude (Smith & Reeves, 2020).
Tollefson et al. (2016) explored students’ decision making in choosing integrative
healthcare. Their research found that over half of their participants were dissatisfied with
conventional and Western medicine as well as its providers. This led to students experimenting
with complementary and alternative modalities, such as massage, yoga, and meditation. Due to

43
the students’ personal interest in complementary and alternative medicine and holistic health,
they chose integrative health as their major. Meanwhile, variables influencing college students to
choose agriculture and food related STEM majors was studied by Hegerfeld-Baker et al. (2015).
The aim was to help academic institutions encourage and prepare students entering those fields.
The sample population identified for the study included 1,826 students from South Dakota State
University. A total of 458 students completed the survey, of which 79% were in their first
semester of college. The students were presented with ten statements and asked to identify if the
statements were: not a factor, somewhat agree, essentially agree and could not agree more. The
survey asked questions relating to financial gain/stability, passion/satisfaction and high school
courses. Students are 1.5 times more likely to choose a STEM major in the colleges if a passion
for their career and job satisfaction were important to them (Hegerfeld-Baker et al., 2015). The
study concluded that students were more likely to choose a STEM major because of their passion
for the field and signs of students' interest can be traced back to their childhood.
In reflection of childhood interests, my own centered around business. As a child, I
traded stickers and erasers. As I got older, I sold items from brochures to help my elementary
school fundraise. I later graduated to having a counter in my home where I sold candy and soda
after school to the neighborhood kids, and sometimes even their parents. With the past leaving
clues to the future, it is unsurprising that I competed in a business competition, and not a science
fair, in high school. Meanwhile, I have spent most of my adult life working in marketing or sales
with stints in other fields. It is only until I found my North Star in the field of career development
that I was redirected out of business and into career coaching.

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Self-Efficacy
Along with personal interest, the research by Heilbronner (2011) also unearthed that selfefficacy was a key predictor in students’ endurance in the STEM field. Students not only
performed better academically but persisted longer in STEM due to their confidence in their own
abilities. Heilbronner (2011) updated the body of literature by Lent et al. (1986), which
supported and extended previous research that self-efficacy expectations were related to
academic performance behavior, vocational interests, and range of perceived career options.
Interestingly, high school achievement, mathematical ability, and vocational interest were
insignificant components in the analyses by Lent et al. (1986). Instead, self-efficacy contributed
significantly to the prediction of persistence, range of career options, and post-secondary
technical grades.
In the research conducted by Moakler et al. (2014) to determine whether a student's
confidence or background influenced their decision to declare a STEM major, students in STEM
were more confident in their academic abilities, specifically in mathematical studies, than the
non-STEM student. The findings further revealed that as students’ confidence in math increased,
they were more likely to choose STEM. After assessing the descriptive statistics and constructing
a logistic regression model, the researchers found that students’ confidence was substantiated in
having a high SAT or ACT score along with a high GPA. Although, tests such as the SAT have
come under fire as being disadvantageous to students of color (Smith & Reeves, 2020).
Therefore, gathering more insight into the forces that can improve student confidence in the
absence of high SAT scores may help educators better assist students of color in STEM majors.
Relevant to supporting students of color in STEM majors, Strayhorn (2015) sought to
identify agents that influenced the preparation of Black men for college and conditions that

45
enabled their success in STEM fields. Strayhorn (2015) aimed to broaden the participation of
racially and ethnically underrepresented minorities in STEM and presented multiple findings.
First, Strayhorn (2015) suggests that self-efficacy is a major agent influencing Black males’
preparation for college and success in STEM fields. Second, Strayhorn (2015) observed that
successful STEM students expressed early childhood interests in science, math, engineering, or
technology. These interests were nurtured by family and activities such as classes, summer
camps, technology, or social media.
As all the studies above suggest, self-efficacy plays a leading role in a student’s ability to
persist through STEM fields. The ability to nurture confidence in students’ abilities can have a
significant impact on developing successful STEM students. Although, questions remain on how
self-efficacy can be cultivated for students interested in STEM.
How External and Intrinsic Factors Affect and Influence One Another
Most research has analyzed external and intrinsic variables as individual factors that
influence a student’s decision to major in STEM or enter a career in STEM. Yet, the connection
between these factors needs greater exploration. The correlation between external factors and
intrinsic factors has not been thoroughly explored in the research and studies of the available
literature. Existing research lacks data about college students’ prior knowledge and experiences
that affect college major and career decisions. Research has highlighted familial environment as
well as high school and college instruction to be the greatest contributors that affect a student’s
interest and self-efficacy towards a major in STEM (Dante, 2014; Keshishian et. al., 2010; Otto
et. al., 2017; Strayhorn, 2015; Tollefson et. al., 2016).

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The Influence of the Familial Variable on Intrinsic Variables of a STEM Major
While familial expertise and opinion are factors that can influence a student’s decision on
a major or career in STEM, research has shown the effects family can have on a student’s
confidence, self-efficacy, and ability when entering the STEM field (Cho et al., 2010; Dante et
al., 2014; Moakler, 2014; Strayhorn, 2015). Cho et al. (2010) and Dante et al. (2014)
substantiated that students who had a relative in the nursing profession were more likely to
choose this degree. Dante et al. (2014) emphasized that deciding on a nursing career is
influenced by the information that potential candidates have gained about the actual nursing
position; non-nursing majors reported having a negative healthcare experience and did not
benefit from the understanding of a healthcare profession. Familial support does not only come
from family members who are already in STEM; it can also come from parents/guardians who
are not necessarily associated with STEM yet nurture their children’s budding interest in STEM.
Keshishian et al. (2010) highlighted that Black students did not choose a STEM major or
career, specifically pharmacy, due to a lack of representation. Anderson et al. (2008) collected
data from 403 first-year pharmacy students from all racial groups and found they were
influenced to pursue a Doctor of Pharmacy degree by individuals with similar racial
backgrounds, such as family members, pharmacists, pharmacy students, college instructors,
advisors, high school counselors, and other healthcare professionals. To assess the representation
question, the table below provides a contrast between the overrepresented and underrepresented
groups. While the census figures add up to 99.6%, the total percentage of pharmacists only add
up to 95.91% to account for the direct mapping of groups that overlapped in both the data sets
available in the 2020 census (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023) and the 2024 demographics of
pharmacists (Zippia, 2024b)

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Table 2: Demographics and Representation of Pharmacists
Strayhorn (2015) found that if Black males’ childhood interests in STEM were nurtured
by parents or guardians, their self-efficacy and self-confidence around STEM increased. Positive
self-efficacy, which developed through the encouragement of family, can supersede the lack of
representation in students when deciding to enter the STEM field. Participants in Strayhorn’s
study shared memories of playing with their parents' cell phones as toddlers to disassembling and
then reassembling toy computer gadgets. They also practiced reciting numbers and multiplication
tables under the active supervision of a parent or guardian (2015).
Many students agreed or strongly agreed that someone encouraged them to pursue
pharmacy as a major (Anderson et al., 2008). This trend was consistent across different racial
groups. Family members, pharmacists, and pharmacy students were the most common sources of
encouragement. However, it appeared of greatest meaning when the encouragement was from
someone of the same racial background.
Familial support and representation are not the only external factors that can influence a
student to choose a major and career in STEM; Strayhorn (2015) highlighted how familial
nurturing led to a sense of belonging within the STEM field even with a lack of representation.
US Census
2020 Population
(U.S. Census Bureau, 2023)
Pharmacists
(Zippia, 2024b)
Role
Representation
American Indian 1.3% 0.01% Under
Asian 6.4% 20.9% Over
Black 13.7% 7.0% Under
Latine 19.5% 5.6% Under
White 58.4% 62.4% Over

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Using my experience to reflect on these findings, as I developed my sense of work identity, I did
not see myself as a pharmacist despite the representation of Asian American pharmacists. My
parents’ encouragement of me becoming a pharmacist also did not steer me towards the field.
Therefore, insufficient familial support and lack of representation may explain lower levels of
persistence, however, encouragement and representation are not enough to engender the pursuit
and persistence of STEM careers.
An Extrinsic and Intrinsic Sense of Belonging in STEM
Research has found the importance of a sense of belonging for students entering STEM
majors and careers (Strayhorn, 2015; Tollefson et al., 2016). An extrinsic sense of belonging
usually involves being acquainted with other people and one’s surroundings while an intrinsic
sense of belonging is centered on the acceptance, attention, and support one feels from
surrounding people and systems. Strayhorn (2015) noted that a sense of belonging mattered for
Black males in STEM fields. They felt a greater sense of belonging when they saw themselves in
the curriculum or when faculty knew their names and interests. Seeing themselves in the
curriculum and being acknowledged by faculty increased the self-confidence and self-efficacy of
Black male students in STEM. Tollefson et al. (2016) also highlighted how the environmental
factors on a university campus led to an intrinsic sense of belonging within a STEM major.
Students learned about integrative health at the university and then decided to enroll and declare
their major in integrative health. The program at the university also validated the experience with
complementary and alternative medicine modalities these students had.
Intrinsic Career Ambition Leads to Extrinsic Success
Students, who look beyond choosing a major in STEM and instead focus on a career
ambition in STEM, achieve both extrinsic and intrinsic success. Otto et al. (2017) discovered that

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career ambition impacted both extrinsic and intrinsic success. In terms of the field of psychology,
extrinsic success was positively predicted by career orientation. Otto et al. (2017) also found that
achievement motivation was negatively related to intrinsic success; moreover, achievement
motivation furthered diminished intrinsic success over time while reinforcing that intrinsic
success predicts extrinsic success. Intrinsic success, defined as job satisfaction and goal
attainment, can predict extrinsic success, measured by salary and position, in the field of
psychology (Otto et al., 2017).
Most studies examine individual factors separately without exploring their
interrelationships. Current research lacks comprehensive data on how students' prior knowledge
and experiences impact their major and career choices. Studies show that familial environment,
high school, and college instruction significantly contribute to students' interest and self-efficacy
in STEM fields. However, the interaction between extrinsic and intrinsic factors in students'
decisions to major in or pursue careers in STEM needs further exploration.
Advising STEM Students
The leading purveyor of the First Destination Survey (FDS) is the National Association
of Colleges and Employers (NACE) by obtaining data from American colleges. This yearly
survey offers clear and consistent information on the national outcomes of a college education.
Each school that administers an FDS decides the exact questions in their tailored survey, and all
seek to locate these outcomes:
● Types of employment (full-time, part-time, contract, or freelance)
● Further education (acceptance into graduate or professional schools)
● Those still seeking employment or further education
● Starting salaries for full-time employed graduates

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Parents focus on end results such as outcomes from the FDS as a metric of the school’s
return on investment, yet so much happens from the first day of class to the last day of class that
is overlooked and not scrutinized.
Funding
With the challenging coursework that is characteristic of STEM (Tomkin, 2022) and the
needed dedication to the majors, it is surprising that anywhere from 30% to 60% of STEM
graduates do not work in a STEM job. The figure could be as high as 72%, according to a 2021
U.S. Census Bureau study (Grove, 2024). It is startling that the U.S. government provides about
$3 billion annually to support 207 elite STEM university programs, and many more nationally
(Grove, 2024) despite the lack of persistence in this field. Given the statistics, this section
attempts to understand what sort of programs and services appeal to students.
Although students and parents know about career centers, they often do not question the
specific programs and services offered. Not all students fully utilize or are aware of the available
resources (VanDerziel, 2022). NACE reported that the preponderance of students do not utilize
the career center’s most impactful services, citing only 25.6% sought help with internships,
21.1% visited for networking preparation, and 20.8% participated in mock interviews
(VanDerziel, 2022). The statistics on parental engagement with the career office was difficult to
locate; however, from my own firsthand experience, the figure has been less than five times a
year for me at LMU. Psychologist Marty Nemko (2018) hypothesized that the reason for low
levels of parental engagement with the programming at career centers is due to normative
behavior in America, where there is minimal parent involvement after high school. My own
experience as an undergraduate reinforces this hypothesis. Even though my family attempted to
persuade me to pursue pharmacy, I cannot recall them asking me questions regarding the career

51
services at my college. Therefore, while career centers provide career coaching, resume
workshops, and job fairs, the effectiveness and relevance of these programs can vary and go
without scrutiny by the students and their parents.
Nonetheless, the stakes of students’ careers ride high as the domain of work is an ongoing
preoccupation. Approximately 39% of workers consider their job or career to be extremely or
very important to their overall identity. Around 34% find it somewhat important, while 27% feel
it is not too important or not important at all. Notably, 53% of workers with a postgraduate
degree view their job or career as central to their identity (Pew Research Center, 2023). Given
the primacy of work as a cornerstone of well-being, career centers need to reimagine how to
make their programming relevant to every demographic at their school to address the evolving
needs of college students as they are developing in their twenties.
Career centers are staffed by a variety of individuals with varying levels of experience.
Zippia (2024a) reported that there are close to 10,881 career counselors in the United States of
which 6,093 career counselors work in the field of education; however, the data did not
distinguish K-12 from post-secondary. The National Center for Education Statistics (2022)
tallied 5,916 postsecondary Title IV institutions. Using the best-case scenario that all 6,093
career counselors worked in 5,916 postsecondary institutions, this is equivalent to 1.03 career
counselors per college. NACE’s numbers are slightly more optimistic. In their 2022-2023 Career
Services Benchmark Report (NACE, 2023), 229 colleges responded with a figure that averaged
to 2.5 career counselors per career center and 220 respondents averaged 2.0 career coaches at
their school. The number decreased when asked about whether the career services professionals
had certifications. 91 schools reported resulting in 1.4 career counselors and 1.2 career coaches

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held certifications. The report also captured from 543 responding schools that the mean number
of professional staff was 6.9 (NACE, 2023).
With the average difference of 1.3 certified career specialists per school compared to 6.9
professional advising staff, this contrast indicates that 82% of career centers are staffed by
individuals in career services who are delivering career guidance without a certification. From
reviewing career specialist job descriptions, certifications are not the norm, instead the
prerequisite is to have a master’s degree or to have sufficient years of experience advising
students or working on student programming. It remains one of the more challenging aspects of
hiring is finding the candidate who loves career education. To ensure career centers are
responsibly providing support without overstepping boundaries when modeled after a counseling
framework, career counseling has shifted to take on a coaching model. The service deliverable is
addressing students’ needs by providing direct feedback and tasks for their completion. There is
a distinction between this and counseling in which the latter emphasizes the career practitioner
building a therapeutic and confidential relationship with clients and employs counseling methods
to help the student resolve career issues (NACE, 2017). The next section explores the two
theoretical frameworks used in this paper, social cognitive career theory and self-authorship
theory.
Theoretical Frameworks
Robert W. Lent, Steven D. Brown, and Gail Hackett published their unified theory on
social cognition, career and academic interest, choice, and performance in 1994 (Lent at al.,
1994). Aptly named social cognitive career theory (SCCT) is a framework to understand how
individuals form their career interests, make and adjust career choices, and achieve career
success. Meanwhile, the theory of self-authorship is useful as a theoretical framework as it

53
provides a platform for analysis in centering a student’s awareness of self in relation to their
ongoing development as a worker. Self-authorship allows for the exploration of conditions that
may lead to the vocational choices of a student as they explore their identity and relationship
with the external world. This paper uses both frameworks to better understand the career journey
of STEM students.
Social Cognitive Career Theory in Context
SCCT draws from Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) and centers
self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and personal goals as critical to understanding career
development. It is also linked to Krumboltz’s Learning Theory of Career Development (2009).
The tenets of SCCT enable career coaches to help their students make sense of their professional
development by considering a multiplicity of factors that range from the external, extrinsic, and
intrinsic. It also allows for the assessment of cognitive processes and interpersonal factors in
decision making. SCCT is well suited to examine STEM career choices as students can look
beyond technical knowledge as the only source of success and can instead tap into other
variables to help them persist. SCCT posits that individuals are products of their environment
and in turn affect the environment.
Process of Career Development
There are three aspects of career development that SCCT aims to explain (Lent, et al.,
1994). The first is the development of career interests and how personal interests in certain
activities develop based on self-efficacy and outcome expectations. The second is the making
and adjusting of career choices where students will choose and revise their career paths. This
decision-making process is influenced by their beliefs in their capabilities and expected
outcomes. The third area is the achievement of career success which explores the factors

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contributing to success in chosen careers, including the interaction between self-efficacy,
outcome expectations, personal goals, and external environment.
Foundational Components
The underlying components that bring the above three processes to life are self-efficacy,
outcome expectations, and goals. Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s capabilities to achieve goals
and complete certain tasks. The higher the self-efficacy, the greater the persistence and resilience
that a student has towards their career endeavors. Self-efficacy beliefs are developed through
four ways (Lent et al., 2013). The first is personal performance accomplishments in which
students gain confidence by successfully completing tasks. The second is vicarious learning
which can enhance self-efficacy by observing the success of others. The third way is social
persuasion which boosts self-belief through positive feedback. The last is physiological and
affective states which can influence physical and emotional conditions and thus affecting beliefs.
The second component to understanding the process of career development in the SCCT
framework is outcome expectations which are the anticipated results or consequences of certain
actions. Positive outcome expectations can drive students to pursue specific career paths, while
negative expectations can deter them (Lent et al, 2013). Self-efficacy and outcome expectations
are intricately linked while high confidence in one's abilities often leads to positive outcome
expectations. In turn, expecting a positive outcome can boost confidence and encourage behavior
that leads to the desired result. Lastly, the establishment and pursuit of goals help guide behavior
and provide students with a clear sense of purpose and direction in their career development. In
the context of SCCT, goals help gauge how much a student wants to achieve their target (Lent, at
al., 2013). Goals are influenced by the student’s self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations.
The perception of progress can impact these self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations, and

55
vice-versa. Understanding SCCT can help the career coach support their student in making sense
of their career journey.
Given the importance of work as part of one’s identity in America, all students should
have quality career education. Yet without universally agreed to standards and milestones for the
budding young worker, they are left to self-author their professional growth. The varied tenets of
self-authorship, from stages of knowing to the path to self-authorship, provide fertile ground to
reflect the multiple facets of development and change (Baxter Magolda, 2001). The theory lends
itself to providing context given the developmental tasks forced upon the individual by the
evolving employment landscape, pace of societal change, and the ongoing stronghold of parental
influence in the lives of young adults.
Self-Authorship Theory in Context
The theory of self-authorship is useful as a theoretical framework as it provides a
platform for analysis in centering a student’s awareness of self in relation to their ongoing
development as a worker. Self-authorship, in the context of this literature review-based thesis,
will allow this study to explore the conditions that may lead to the vocational choices of a
student as they explore their identity and relationship with the external world.
Self-authorship found its genesis in Kegan (1982) who espoused five stages of knowing
that promote growth and development. Each stage is more complex than the previous and Kegan
grounded his theoretical model in the notion that growth comes from an individual’s desire for
differentiation yet wishes for immersion in one’s environment. Studies built on Kegan’s stages
on the evolution of consciousness included a broad array of subjects from West Point cadets to
non-native English speakers (Patton et al., 2016). At least thirteen studies, the majority by
Kegan’s doctoral students, added data to his approach (Patton et al., 2016).

56
In parallel, Baxter Magolda was also developing her theory on self-authorship in the
1980s and 1990s (Patton et al., 2016). Like Kegan, Baxter Magolda extrapolated potent ideas
from predecessors and produced a body of work that centered epistemological reflection at its
core (Patton et al., 2016). She drew inspiration from Belenky’s work on women’s development
and Perry’s work on men’s development (Patton et al., 2016). Baxter Magolda’s model of selfauthorship consists of four stages (Baxter Magolda, 2001) that an individual moves through to
become responsible for their lives and decisions. Their reliance on external validation eventually
develops in being able to see themselves with context in the world. This gradual journey through
life and awakening consists of (1) Following Formulas, (2) the Crossroads, (3) Becoming the
Author of One’s Life, and (4) Internal Foundations.
Four Stages of Self Authorship
In the first phase, Following Formulas, the individual (usually adolescent) relies on
external opinions to shape their values and beliefs, adopting formulas for success from others.
They trust authority figures for guidance and view knowledge as certain and unchangeable. This
phase is common among students entering college, who seek validation and approval from
respected authorities (Baxter Magolda, 2001). I recall this first phase well when I entered college
and became a pre-med student to honor my family’s wishes for me to pursue pharmacy. By the
third week of college, I was very enamored with college but not with the idea of spending nights
studying biology with the other pre-med students in the science lab. I quickly decided studying
the human body was not the path for me, left pre-med behind, and closed the door on the science
lab.
At the second phase, The Crossroads, students begin to feel discontent with living by
others’ definitions and start to question authority. They seek to define themselves and imagine a

57
life guided by their own choices, which leads them to the third phase: Becoming the Author of
One’s Own Life. In this phase, students decide on their own beliefs and values, form a personal
perspective, and take responsibility for evaluating information, acknowledging its biases and
uncertainties (Baxter Magolda, 2001). I found these two phases to be consistent with my own
career development as I continued through college. At the start of my sophomore year, I began to
seriously explore the arena of public policy and politics. I was interested in the topics due
academic courses and friend suggested I apply to the policy internships and fellowships she
pursued. Her encouragement was the spark for me to become the author of my own career
journey exploring interests outside of what I was told to do by my family.
Finally, in the fourth phase of self-authorship, Internal Foundations, students use their
self-defined identity to evaluate and appreciate diverse perspectives. They guide action and
decision making based on their beliefs and values, recognizing that knowledge is socially
constructed. The internal foundations stage for me began to solidify when I realized I did not
want to pursue politics after a disenchanting summer in Washington D.C. before the start of my
senior year. My final year of college consisted of intense exploration as I went on field trips to
employers and met with recruiters. I was not sure what I would do after college yet felt a sense of
confidence that I would discover my way. Baxter Magolda (2001) found that self-authored
students actively participate in knowledge creation, often collaborating with peers and mentors.
Baxter Magolda’s (2001) five-year longitudinal study helped finalize her theory. The
study consisted of sixty-seven white students and three students of color. Other scholars have
also studied her theory and applied it to student populations domestically and internationally.
Jane Pizzolato (2005) examined the narratives of 613 students regarding their decision making.
Baxter Magolda in partnership with Torres (2004) conducted a longitudinal qualitative study of

58
Latino students and found application of self-authorship theory to that population of students as
well.
Self-Authorship Application and the Chilly Climate of STEM
The application of Kegan and Baxter Magolda’s theories to diverse student populations
provide the empirical data to substantiate the theory of self-authorship as a useful tool in
supporting the development of populations of students, including STEM majors. However, selfauthorship alone may not be fully capable of explaining development and change for certain
minoritized populations such as gender fluid and non-binary individuals. Further research that
engages LGBTQ+ theories may provide the missing components to support students who have
minoritized gender identities. Self-authorship as an advising practice would be especially
valuable and practical in the domain of STEM, which is known for its male centric and
heteronormative environment. Gender stereotypes and implicit biases contribute to a chilly
climate, discouraging women and non-binary individuals from entering or staying in STEM
careers. The notion of a chilly climate was introduced by Bernice Sandler and Roberta Hall
(1982) who referenced the subtle, often unnoticed behaviors and attitudes in academic settings
that create an unwelcoming atmosphere for women. This concept has since been applied to
STEM fields to highlight the gender biases and micro-inequities that can discourage women and
other underrepresented groups from pursuing careers in these areas.
Significant gender disparities exist in representation, compensation, and recognition,
especially in sub fields of STEM such as physics, engineering, and computer science, where the
male-to-female ratio is notably imbalanced at a 4-to-1 ratio (Cimpian et al., 2020).
Heteronormativity, which assumes heterosexuality as the norm, is also prevalent in STEM
environments, potentially marginalizing LGBTQ+ individuals. Efforts to address these issues

59
focus on promoting gender equity through interventions that change organizational practices and
challenge stereotypes.
Advising Practices
For any educator, and more specifically college career advisors, knowledge of selfauthorship and the distinct stages of development outlined by both Kegan and Baxter Magolda
aid tremendously in conversing with and supporting students. One often utilized question to
assess student career interest is “What would you like to do?” A reply from a student with low
levels of vocational self-concept may range from “I don’t know” to popular job titles. The good
intentioned practitioner may direct students to review a website such as What Can I Do with This
Major (Office of Career Development, 2022). However, doing so without providing what Kegan
(1982) termed an effective holding environment may lead the student to possess a resource yet
not have the support to utilize the material effectively. Therefore, self-authorship theory may
provide the needed framework for the newly minted higher education professionals to contend
with questions that students have regarding how to find meaning as they embark on their
professional lives. Yet such questions may still confound the professional into stating traditional
tropes such as “follow your passion,” “find your why,” and other types of responses that can
prolong students’ existential crisis. The pitfall of self-authorship demands a more thorough study
as the advisor matures.
Kagan (1982) defined an effective holding environment as critical to facilitating the
student’s transitions between developmental stages. An effective holding environment
encompasses (1) intentional support and challenge which means provides validation for current
thinking while promoting growth, (2) a transitional culture that can serves as a bridge to more
advanced stages of development, (3) opportunities for developmental transformation that assist

60
the student in integrating past and present ways of being into a more complex self, and (4)
embeddedness refers to offering support through disparate scenarios throughout life. The advisor
who can provide the effective holding environment for the student allows for the flourishing of
the individual fully and authentically (Kegan, 1982).
Career advisors can leverage SCCT to support an effective holding environment for
students by emphasizing self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and goals. Advisors can enhance
students' confidence through positive affirmation and reframing negative thoughts, teach students
to use resources to gain insights into varied career paths and market trends, and help students
establish and achieve career development goals through check-ins. SCCT strategies can
empower students to make informed and confident career choices, ultimately leading to greater
satisfaction and success in their careers. The integrated approach of SCCT and self-authorship
theory can ensure students’ multiple needs are addressed in STEM career development.

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Chapter Four: Discussion
This chapter reviews the purpose of this study and reexamines the research questions
along with a discussion on the findings from the literature review. The findings will provide
substance for policy implications, improvements in the practice of career education, and future
research.
Question 1: What factors are critical to student persistence in STEM career fields?
Question 2: What strategies can career advising employ to improve career outcomes in
the STEM field?
The literature review sought to understand the factors that led to students' pursuit and
follow-through of STEM majors and in turn, careers. This section utilizes SCCT and theory of
self-authorship to examine the findings.
Critical Factors of Persistence
Researchers have found that the greatest influential factors shaping students’ aspirations
and attitudes towards STEM are their parents’ occupations, the high school courses they take,
and the instruction they receive at the college level (Cho et al., 2010; Gottfried et al., 2015;
Heilbronner, 2011; Moakler et al., 2014; and Wang, 2013). The environment in which students
grow up and the information they encounter throughout their educational journey significantly
affect how they choose their majors and set their future goals.
Numerous external factors influence students’ decisions to major in and pursue careers in
STEM. Cho et al. (2010) identified direct exposure to the field as one of the main factors.
Moakler et al. (2014) found that students with parents in STEM fields were “1.5 times more
likely to choose a STEM major” (p. 137). The high school curriculum also plays a crucial role in
shaping students’ performance and enthusiasm for STEM (Wang, 2013). Secondary schools

62
offering a wide range of math and science-intensive courses tend to graduate more students who
are interested in and persist in STEM majors throughout their college careers (Wang, 2013).
Research has identified personal interest and self-efficacy as crucial determinants in
guiding and sustaining students’ pursuit of STEM fields (Hegerfeld-Baker et al., 2015;
Heilbronner, 2011; Lent et al., 1986; Moakler et al., 2014; Strayhorn, 2015; and Tollefson et al.,
2016). When these qualities coexist in a student, they create a powerful drive that supports the
successful completion of a STEM major and the transition into a related profession.
Additionally, students who were recognized by faculty helped develop and reinforce a science
identity (Carlone and Johnson, 2007) which helped with meaning making and persistence.
Heilbronner’s (2011) study aimed to uncover the factors that motivate students to pursue
STEM degrees, identifying personal interest as a primary intrinsic quality. Heilbronner (2011)
also found that self-efficacy was a key predictor of students’ persistence in the STEM field.
His findings were echoed in the work of Moakler et al. (2014) who investigated whether a
student’s confidence or background influenced their decision to declare a STEM major. They
found that STEM students were more confident in their academic abilities, particularly in
mathematics, compared to non-STEM students. Complementing Heilbronner (2011) and
Moakler et al. (2014), Lent et al. (1986) found that high school achievement, mathematical
ability, and vocational interest were not significant factors. Instead, self-efficacy played a crucial
role in predicting persistence, the range of career options, and post-secondary technical grades.
Studies have examined external and intrinsic variables as separate factors influencing a
student’s decision to major in STEM or pursue a STEM career; however, the relationship
between these external and intrinsic factors has not been extensively explored in the existing

63
literature. Additionally, there is a lack of data on college students’ prior knowledge and
experiences that impact their major and career choices.
The findings will enhance the existing literature and deepen the understanding of how
intrinsic and external factors influence career decisions in STEM majors. This data will empower
STEM counselors to better guide students in their academic and career paths. The next section
utilized the theory of self-authorship to examine the findings relevant to research question 2.
Advising STEM Students: Integration of SCCT and Self-Authorship
The facets that lead to positive outcomes in the STEM field are rooted in the interplay of
external and intrinsic factors. Self-authorship serves as a useful theoretical framework to analyze
these outcomes, as it describes an individual’s ability to balance external pressures and develop
an internally defined identity that guides complex decision-making. A self-authored individual
consistently and critically evaluates their values, beliefs, relationships, and externally imposed
expectations to maintain an internally coherent identity (Baxter Magolda, 2009)
Stage 1: Following External Formulas
SCCT helps to shed light on the first stage of self-authorship by addressing factors such
as parental support, high school classes, and college-level instruction which significantly
influence students’ aspirations and attitudes towards STEM. The environment in which students
were raised and the information they encountered throughout their education played a crucial
role in their major selection process and future goals.
Self-authorship emerges from creating environments that challenge dependence on
authority and promote meaning-making processes. The learning partnership model (Baxter
Magolda, 1992) is a set of ideas to help frame interactions with students. This model will be
applied to the four stages to assess its usefulness in career coaching the STEM student.

64
One of the key tenets of this model is validating learners' capacity to know. Advisors can
help STEM students understand their own agency to make decisions towards their career and that
their own ideas are important and valid in the development of their future in STEM. The advisor
must be approachable and mindful that over enthusiasm for STEM may drive the student away if
they feel they cannot trust the advisor to be objective. Lastly, it is important to cheer the student
on yet not dominate the meetings. Allowing space for the student to reflect and share their ideas
and viewpoints about their career promotes self-authorship.
Stage 2: The Crossroads
One of the issues with persistence in the medicine field was dissatisfaction with
conventional medicine (Tollefson et al., 2016) which prompted students to explore
complementary and alternative therapies. Their personal interest in these areas guided them to
choose integrative health as their major. When students want to change their academic or
professional plans but do not feel they have the permission to do so or fear disappointing their
family and mentors, they arrive at the crossroads stage. At this juncture, they may realize the
importance of committing to their own beliefs about what is meaningful to pursue and must
confront a career realignment in order to choose a path that better matches personal needs and
interests. The learning partnership model (Baxter Magolda, 1992) espouses reflection when goal
setting and planning and integrates nonacademic life experiences to increase the holistic nature
of decision making at the crossroads.
Stage 3: Becoming the Author of One's Life
Lent et al. (1986) found that self-efficacy expectations were related to academic
performance behavior, vocational interests, and range of perceived career options. Interestingly,
high school achievement, mathematical ability, and vocational interest were insignificant

65
components in the analyses (Lent et al.,1986). The research by Heilbronner (2011) also located
self-efficacy as a key predictor in students’ endurance in the STEM field with students not only
performed better academically but persisted longer in STEM due to their confidence in their own
abilities. Overall, self-efficacy is a significant factor in students’ decisions to pursue and persist
in STEM fields, with important implications for supporting underrepresented minorities.
The learning partnership model (Baxter Magolda, 1992) may not need to be activated
with students who have high self-efficacy; however, it can be activated with students who
express low self-efficacy. When working with such individuals, it is important to situate learning
and help students recognize and acknowledge that they bring their firsthand experiences into the
classroom. It is not only book knowledge but the relationship they have with the material.
Increasing self-efficacy must be done by the student and the advisor can provide opportunities
for self-reflection to help students become clearer about what they know, why they hold their
beliefs, and how they want to act on them. Lastly, offering guidelines is preferable instead of
requirements which may dampen the burgeoning sense of self-efficacy.
Stage 4: Internal Foundation.
Baxter Magolda’s research on self-authorship positions stage 4 as being more applicable
to students in their late twenties to early 30s (2008). This stage is marked by the development of
a solid, self-determined belief system, and life decisions based on internal beliefs. The ability to
embrace ambiguity and change leads to inner peace and strength also marks this stage. In
considering the chilly climate of STEM, older than traditional age students may be more likely to
persist through an environment of disparities if they are able to grow and develop within the
context of stage 4.

66
Recommendations
While specific factors that lead to positive STEM outcomes are outside the control of
career specialists such as the student’s familial background or college curriculum, there are
frequent opportunities for career advisors to have an influence on the student trajectory in STEM
fields. This section offers recommendations that career centers can employ.
• Create an effective holding environment that assists in developmental transformation
• Address the chilly climate of STEM and help to develop a science identity
• Improve student self-efficacy using their own reflection as the vehicle
• Increase student agency by recognizing and validating their capacity to make decisions
Creating an Effective Holding Environment
Career center leadership can engender an effective holding environment (Kegan, 1982)
that allows advisors to engage with students in ways that lead to better outcomes. Advisor
knowledge of the components of this type of environment and commitment to uphold will allow
students to flourish. The advisor can both support and challenge the student in their thinking to
promote growth. An effective holding environment also has a transitional culture that offers
varying levels of services and recognizes that each student starts at a different marker in their
career development. The career center must also be intentional with assisting in developmental
transformation which allows the student who come for services to integrate past and present
ways of being into a more complex self. Lastly, advisors and programming must also be
available to students when and where they consume career services.
Using tenets of SCCT, an effective holding environment would emphasize self-efficacy,
outcome expectations, and goals. By boosting students' confidence in their abilities, offering
clear insights into career prospects, and assisting them in setting and achieving their career goals,

67
SCCT fosters a supportive and motivating atmosphere. This method helps students make
informed and confident career decisions, resulting in higher satisfaction and success in their
chosen fields.
Bygone are the days of the typical 9 to 5 model and the student must come into the center
to receive support. Career center leadership and each individual advisor must consider how to
embed career education wherever the student may be and whenever the student may need it.
Methods such as career educational platforms that automatically review resumes and integration
of career assessments in first-year orientation classes are the minimum that career centers must
do to ensure their presence and ability to support at different milestones. An effective holding
environment is in many ways a holistic career services environment and one that has the
grounding to address the challenges outlined below.
Addressing a Chilly Climate to Help Develop a Science Identity
With significant gender disparities in STEM fields, especially in subfields like physics,
engineering, and computer science evidenced in representation, compensation, and recognition,
with a notably skewed male-to-female ratio of 4-to-1 (Cimpian et al., 2020), activation of the
learning partnership model (Baxter Magolda, 1992) could be used. Here advisors can validate the
reality of the chilly climate while encouraging the student to mute the voice of the offending
faculty. While the advisor is not in the STEM classroom, they can engage in the promotion of a
science identity by addressing the student as a scientist, physicist, chemist, or other career roles
the student is pursuing and providing an outlet where their voice is heard, and they can share
ideas.
SCCT can combat a chilly climate by focusing on enhancing self-efficacy, refining
outcome expectations, and setting meaningful goals. To increase self-efficacy, advisors foster

68
students' belief in their capabilities by helping to connect with mentors and role models.
Meanwhile, students may not have a deep understanding of the benefits and rewards of pursuing
a science career thus highlighting success stories of individuals from similar backgrounds who
have thrived despite a chilly climate may improve outcome expectations. A pillar of SCCT is
goal setting to help maintain focus and persistence therefore advisors can work with students to
develop both short-term and long-term plans, develop a check-in timeline, and help adjust
strategies as needed. By using these methods, SCCT helps students navigate and mitigate the
effects of a chilly climate, and career coaches can foster a supportive environment where
students can develop a strong science identity and persevere in STEM fields.
Self-Efficacy
The learning partnership model (Baxter Magolda, 1992) situates learning and recognizes
that students bring their individual experiences into advising session. While the advisor may
encourage a certain format for resumes or cover letters, it is important to help the student view
these types of career documents as a testament to what they have achieved thus far. This learning
partnership model helps to increase self-efficacy when there are opportunities for self-reflection
to help students become clearer about what they know, why they hold their beliefs, and how they
want to act on them. Lastly, while it is very tempting for career advisors to suggest one way of
creating a resume, as an example, because of standard practices, offering guidelines is preferable
to stating there is a best way as that may decrease self-efficacy.
SCCT can enhance self-efficacy in STEM by focusing on several strategies. Career
coaches can encourage students to reflect on their past successes and achievements in STEM to
build their confidence. By emphasizing these positive experiences, students can develop a
stronger belief in their abilities. Given that alums often have an interest in supporting their alma

69
mater, career services can connect students with role models and mentors who have successfully
navigated STEM fields to provide inspiration and guidance. When students see someone they
can relate to achieve success, this can boost their self-efficacy. Career centers often provide
extensive programming; however, they may be too general for the STEM student. Therefore, a
concerted effort to locate high impact practices such as tapping into internships as a pathway will
helps students acquire and practice the skills needed in STEM. Advisors must be open and
willing to address barriers and challenges that STEM students face such as stereotypes or lack of
resources. Thinking with the student and through strategies to tackle these challenges builds
resilience and confidence.
Agency
A fundamental principle of the learning partnership model is recognizing and validating
learners’ capacity to understand and make decisions. When advising STEM students on their
careers, advisors can empower them to recognize their own agency and the importance of their
ideas in shaping their future in STEM. Interestingly, validating a learner's capacity to learn can
appear more like career counseling given that the therapeutic aspect is reminiscent of validation
theory (Rendon, 1994) yet career centers must allow space for students to reflect and share their
thoughts and perspectives on their career paths. This in turn fosters self-authorship. 81% of
career centers use career coaching as their model, not career counseling (NACE, 2017),
therefore, they must develop the patience and appetite for outcomes that are more inconspicuous.
Advisors are essential in guiding STEM students to understand their decision-making abilities
and the significance of their ideas in career development. They should be approachable and
maintain objectivity, avoiding overwhelming enthusiasm. By encouraging students and giving
them space to express their career goals, advisors help foster self-authorship.

70
provide more examples
Career centers leveraging the theoretical models of SCCT can increase agency in STEM
students via programming such as creating job search cohorts where students may share career
development knowledge, support each other, and gain a sense of accomplishment through group
success. While there may be competition for similar roles, each job search session can have
specific objectives, such as mastering different types of interviews. The chilly climate of STEM
can be a barrier and students can be taught on how to overcome stereotypes and biases. Career
coaches can provide sessions with strategies for dealing with discrimination and fostering
resilience and the building of awareness on how to handle and overcome negative stereotypes
can increase students' confidence and sense of agency. One of the challenges that students face is
lack of funding to support their STEM interests therefore offering scholarships and grants
specifically for underrepresented students for STEM related career programming can remove
financial barriers and support their academic journeys.
By incorporating these strategies, SCCT can significantly improve students' sense of
agency in STEM, helping them to navigate their education and career paths with confidence and
determination.
Conclusion
Career centers are well meaning and produce a variety of programming with the aims of
appealing to students while providing a much-needed service. Programs range from skills
building on evergreen topics such as resumes and interview preparation, to info sessions cohosted with employers, networking opportunities with alums, and off-site visits to companies.
From the research on students being motivated to pursue their careers in STEM, the typical
programming has limited impact. Research pointing to the centrality of intrinsic conditions and

71
external factors that students bring with them into college, specifically, emphasizing that intrinsic
career ambition leads to success. Increasing students' ability to self-author their career journey
may need to take a greater role in the services that career centers provide. One mechanism to do
this is to lead students through a process of self-discovery to engender a science identity and a
deep relationship to STEM beyond an intellectual level.
An example is my own experience as an individual who has received opportunities, yet
accepting such opportunities fed my pride, but not soul, and had led me to repeat career decisions
mired in Kegan’s (1994) Order 3 called the Socialized Mind. The process of career discernment
through self-authorship would allow the recognition of a mind that was in Order 3 as I was
seeking validation from external sources and thus despite having little interest in the tech field at
21 years old, I moved cross country after college because the position provided social standing
and a respectable work identity. Had I been advised to self-author my journey, I would have
recognized and valued the opportunity for what it was, which was a steppingstone into
adulthood, and minimized the time spent in my quarterlife crisis trying to love my job.
Career education encompasses a range of strategies to ensure students can successfully
enter the workforce after college. From my own experience as an undergraduate, I received
advice on my resume but did not engage in conversations on how to make sense of work or the
meaning of my jobs. Moving a career center from an outcomes focused approach on the number
of students with jobs to the number of students with meaningful jobs takes a concerted
reimagination of what it means to provide career education. In America, our jobs and job titles
often define us, providing a direct way to contribute to society. Work is central to our lives and
significantly impacts our happiness, shaping our interactions with the world.

72
This paper investigates how both external and intrinsic factors contribute to positive
outcomes in STEM fields, uses a literature review interspersed with descriptive qualitative
research, and calls upon self-authorship and SCCT as the theoretical frameworks. Selfauthorship, as defined by Baxter Magolda (2009), involves balancing external pressures and
developing an internally defined identity for decision-making. The study outlines four stages of
self-authorship: Following External Formulas, where external influences like parental occupation
can impact STEM aspirations; The Crossroads, where students confront career realignment when
personal interests conflict with career plans, requiring negotiation with personal values;
Becoming the Author of One’s Life, where intensive reflection leads to clarity; and Internal
Foundation, where students develop inner strength, helping them persist in STEM despite
disparities (Baxter Magolda, 2008). The learning partnership model is applied to support students
through these stages, emphasizing validation, reflection, and agency. Advisors must play a key
role in helping students navigate their STEM careers by fostering an environment that is
supportive and allows students to work through their challenges as beliefs change and identities
evolve.
As I look ahead, I am excited to support STEM students pursuing the health professions
and their increased understanding of self-authorship. My job is a deep part of my identity, and it
is through my work that I will contribute to increased health, wellness, and STEM, by proxy. I
have come full circle.

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Abstract (if available)

Abstract The explicit outcome of a college degree is the advancement of knowledge; the implicit expectation is employment. While the progression of the academic trajectory is monitored using grades, the acquisition of skills needed for gainful employment is not measured. Through the combination of nature and nurture, the fortunate student who can tap into both extrinsic and intrinsic factors, is able realize the modern hallmark of a successful college education: a fully executed employment contract or graduate school offer letter upon graduation. This paper considers the process of career advising of STEM students utilizing self-authorship as the theoretical framework; research into the factors that have led to outcomes for students is explored such as interest and representation. This thesis posits that to generate the best outcomes for students and to interrupt the socioeconomic inequities in our society, career advising must include specific strategies that increase agency within students. Situating the student in the path of self-authorship while activating the learning partnership model is fundamental to improving the livelihoods of students who entrust their education, and thus their careers, to their school.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Le, Thuy C. (author)

Core Title Improving career development: utilization of self-authorship in STEM career advising

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Master of Education

Degree Program Educational Counseling

Degree Conferral Date 2024-12

Publication Date 12/06/2024

Defense Date 09/13/2024

Publisher Los Angeles, California (original), University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag advising practices,advising STEM students,agency,becoming the author of one's life,career advisor,career center,career coach,career development,career development center,career development process,career education,career readiness,career services offices,chilly climate,Crossroads,descriptive-interpretive qualitative research,effective holding environment,external factors,external formulas,familial influence,four stages of self-authorship,gig economy,intrinsic factors,learning partnership model,meaningful work,OAI-PMH Harvest,Persistence,personal interests,process of career development,SCCT,science fair,science identity,self-authorship theory,self-efficacy,sense of belonging,social cognitive career theory,STEM

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