effects of teachers and schooling on the vocational choice of university research scientists, The

School Science and Mathematics, Jan 1997 by Rowsey, Robert E

Thirty-five research scientists from the academic areas of Chemistry, Geology, Physics and Zoology were surveyed to obtain information regarding the effect of teachers and formal schooling on their decisions to become scientists. All subjects included in the study held the Ph.D. degree and were actively involved in research. Data analysis indicated that 63 percent of the subjects had identified a genuine interest in science by the time they were in the ninth grade, but only 9 percent of them attributed this interest to their elementary or junior high school teachers. The data revealed that 43 percent of the population were influenced to become scientists by one or more high school teachers. Also, one-third of the subjects had made the decision to become a scientist by the time of high school graduation. Most of the other two-thirds of the individuals studied decided to become scientists because of the influence of college professors in their freshman- and sophomore-level courses. The subjects were asked if particular events that occurred in junior or senior high school science classes positively influenced them to become scientists. Seventyeight percent of the subjects responded that there were no classroom activities occurring that attracted them to science.

Authors of major reform studies (Boyer, 1983, National Commission of Excellence, 1983) (Project 2061: Science for all America, 1990, and America 2000, 1991) make the assumption that what is taught in elementary, junior high, and secondary schools influence young people to develop and to maintain academic interests in subject matter areas that may lead to a career choice. One of the major thrusts of the National Science Board Commission on Precollege Education in Mathematics, Science, and Technology (1983) is for teachers to make youngsters aware of science and technology career opportunities and to inform students of the proper academic preparation needed to reach that career goal. Also, the publishers of most recent secondary science text books have included descriptions of career opportunities in science because of the goal among science educators to make individuals aware of careers (Project Synthesis 1982).

A major concern of this present study was to examine the effect of teachers and formal schooling, elementary through undergraduate college preparation, as well as other factors that influenced the vocational choice of university research scientists. In order to obtain information for the study, these scientists responded to a questionnaire.

A review of the related literature indicates few studies concerning self report of scientists since Ann Roe's classic book, The Making of a Scientist (1952) where she, through an interview procedure, was able to examine various social and personal forces that acted upon the 64 eminent scientists that constituted her study population. Her major conclusion of the effect of teachers and schooling, particularly at the elementary and secondary level, was that teachers had little or no influence on the vocational choice of the scientists. She reported that the only influential classroom activity mentioned by a few of the scientists was project work where they were encouraged to work independently in order to find information for themselves. Roe wrote, "The important thing is that they learned that they could satisfy their curiosity by their own efforts" (p. 238).

More recent studies by Cooley (1959), Rowe (1977), Head (1980), and Babu (1985) have had as their central thrust a study of the personality types of youngsters that may make it more conducive for them to become scientists. The author could find no recent studies that investigate the perceptions of scientists as they view the role of science teachers and events occurring in and out of science classrooms that influenced their decisions to become research scientists.

Again, the purpose of this present study was to assess university research scientists from the academic areas of chemistry, geology, physics, and zoology-entomology in order to gather information regarding the effect of science teachers, formal schooling in science, and other factors on their decisions to become scientists.

Subjects

Fifty research scientists were randomly selected from a population of 85 research scientists to receive a questionnaire. Thirty-five questionnaires were returned (70%) and the results were tabulated for the data reported in the study. A 70% return seemed feasible for this type of study. All 35 participants held the Ph.D. degree and were actively involved in completing research projects in a university setting. The sample was composed of 32 males and 3 females who ranged in age from 28 to 65 years. The subjects were graduated from high schools located in 21 different states representing all regions of the United States. Twentytwo individuals participated in physical science research Chemistry, Geology, and Physics, and thirteen of the research scientists were from the area of Zoology-Entomology.