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Dissertation
Math anxiety's impact on high school girl students' interest in the STEM fields: a mixed methods study
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Drexel University
Sep 2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00011190
Abstract
The purpose of this explanatory, sequential mixed methods study is to better understand the relationship between math anxiety and interest in pursuing a STEM-related career for high school girl students and to learn how teachers can better support math anxious students. Research supports that girl students exhibit higher levels of math anxiety compared to boy students. Therefore, knowing math anxiety's direct impact on high school girl students' achievement and interest in pursuing a STEM-related career will help teachers learn to assist their students in combatting against its development and effects. This research study examined the correlation between math anxiety and interest in pursuing a STEM-related career for high school girl students. Participants were students in grades 11 and 12 all attending the same high school. Participants anonymously took a questionnaire containing two surveys: the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Rating Scale (A-MARS) and the STEM Career Interest Survey (STEM-CIS). Following the survey, five girl participants were selected to participate in semi-structured interviews to obtain qualitative information about their perspectives, feelings, and lived experiences with math, their math classes and teachers, and their career interests. Questionnaire results showed that math anxiety and interest in pursuing a STEM-related career are significantly negatively correlated. Based on interview data, girl high school students' math anxiety is heavily dependent on classroom environments and teacher relationships. The Covid-19 pandemic also affected all of the interviewed students. Further research should continue, specifically focusing on White and minority girls, so that more girls pursue STEM-related careers to diversify the field and so that teachers are better informed to support their math anxious students.
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Details
- Title
- Math anxiety's impact on high school girl students' interest in the STEM fields
- Creators
- Corinne Reutter
- Contributors
- Colin Hennessy Elliott (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- 112 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- School of Education (1997-2026); Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991022098343104721