Gender, Racial-Ethnic, and Cohort Effects on STEM Interests: A Fourteen-Year Comparison

Gender and racial-ethnic disparities continue to exist in participation within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Because vocational interests predict career choice and educational interventions to help promote STEM interest among underrepresented groups have increased, research is needed to assess if meaningful changes have occurred with STEM-related interests, particularly among women and people of color who have historically been underrepresented in the STEM workforce. The present study examines vocational interests in large samples of college students across two cohorts who completed the Strong Interest Inventory in 2005 ( N = 6,496) and 2019 ( N = 21,146). Results indicate that STEM-related interest levels have increased both across gender (i.e., men and women) and racial-ethnic groups, specifically for Black, Latinx, Asian, and White college students over this period. Notably, STEM-related interests declined or stayed the same across cohorts for Native American students. Additionally, the gap between women and men narrowed for the Investigative General Occupational Theme and STEM-related Basic Interest Scales. Finally, these results are discussed within the context of vocational interest development and societal STEM-related initiatives and focus on increasing STEM interests among underrepresented youth living in the United States.