The influence of parent’s expectations and children’s early skills on children’s future STEM career prospects

Introduction: This paper investigates indicators of STEM career expectations among middle school children in Chile, with a focus on the roles of parental career expectations and children’s early skills (communication, cognitive, socio-emotional skills, and executive functions), and the moderating effects of gender and family socioeconomic status. Method: Using data from the Chilean ‘Encuesta Longitudinal de la Primera Infancia’ 2017 wave, the study involved 2959 children from 10 to 12 years of age. Both children’s and parents’ career expectations were measured through open questions. The assessment of the same children’s early skills was conducted in the 2012 wave when the children were from five to seven years of age, using the Battelle Developmental Inventory and the Backward Digit Span tests. Results: Findings revealed that boys, especially those with mothers with higher educational levels who have STEM expectations for their children, are more likely to expect to continue STEM careers in the future. A significant moderation effect was also found, indicating that parental expectations have a stronger association with girls’ and lower-middle SES children’s STEM career preferences. No significant results were observed for children’s early skills on later STEM career expectations. Conclusions: The study suggests that educational strategies involving family engagement are important for fostering equitable STEM career opportunities. Keywords: STEM, career expectations, communication skills, cognitive skills, socio-emotional skills, executive functions, gender gaps.