Dropping out of STEM - Why 10th grade student choose to discontinue STEM subjects they have elected the year before

Abstract

Discontinuing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects is a global issue, since more employees in the STEM field are needed worldwide each year. However, in secondary education, fewer students are choosing for a STEM-related study profile and a relatively large number of students decide to drop STEM subjects later on. The aim of this study is to investigate the reasons why 10th grade students in the Netherlands discontinue STEM subjects. Twenty students who discontinued a STEM subject (biology, physics and two types of mathematics), they elected a year earlier were interviewed, as were the supervisors of the decision process, their deans. The results of the semi-structured interviews show that only one reason is mentioned by students and deans alike: the subject appearing to be too hard or too much work in 10th grade. In contrast, students report mostly autonomous reasons for their decisions: they decided they did not enjoy the subject anymore or they found out that the subject is not needed (anymore) for their self-determined goals. Deans report reasons such as miscommunication and the consequences of the pandemic -reasons not mentioned by the students- and they do not reflect on students’ autonomous decisions. Students advised to improve the subject choice process by giving more information and letting them practise with 10th grade-level lessons during 9th grade. These implications can make it easier for students to elect a fitting subject cluster and thereby possibly contribute to less discontinuation in STEM subjects.