Exploring Persistence in Science in CEGEP: Toward a Motivational Model

The author examines male and female students' experiences in mathematics and science courses during a crucial time in their academic development in an attempt to explain the high attrition rates in science between the last year of high school and the first year of CEGEP. She examined the relation between a set of motivational variables (i.e., perceptions of autonomy-support, self-efficacy, achievement goals, and intrinsic motivation), affect, achievement, and persistence. The author questioned 603 male and 706 female students from four English-language CEGEPs in the greater Montreal area. Just prior to beginning CEGEP, participants completed a questionnaire that asked about their learning environment in high school mathematics and science classes as well as student characteristics including sources of motivation, personal achievement goals, and feelings of competence. All students expressed an initial interest in pursuing a career in science by enrolling in optional advanced mathematics and science courses during high school. The author concludes that students' experiences during high school have an impact on their decisions to pursue or abandon their path toward an eventual science career. Classroom experiences and student characteristics interact to influence their performance and affect, which in turn influence their decisions to continue or abandon courses.

PhD dissertation

McGill University

Montreal

2007

161p.

en