Young People's Science and Career Aspirations and Outcomes age 20-23 ('Aspires3')

在英国，就像在几乎所有发达国家一样，人们普遍认为我们需要更多的人在科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）的各个层面学习和工作。STEM行业是全球经济的重要组成部分，科学、技术和工程领域的就业岗位预计将以两倍于其他职业的速度增长。然而，人们普遍认为，存在着巨大且不断扩大的STEM技能差距，合格的STEM工人数量不足以满足需求。也有人认为，STEM技能对广泛的职业有益，可以促进社会流动性。与此相关的是，人们对缺乏合格的STEM毕业生进入教学领域感到严重担忧，这种短缺不仅对目前的学校有潜在影响，而且对未来的STEM技能差距也有潜在影响。除了增加STEM参与的必要性之外，还提出了重要的论点，认为必须扩大STEM的参与，并确保全民具有高水平的科学、数学、技术和数字素养。具体来说，有必要扩大STEM 16年级以上学生的性别、种族和社会阶层背景，特别是在物理科学和工程领域，女性、一些少数民族和工人阶级群体的代表性明显不足。然而，旨在增加和/或扩大STEM毕业生形象的举措似乎对高等教育参与率几乎没有持久的影响。因此，了解影响STEM参与的因素是政府和国内外广泛利益相关者的一个关键优先领域。这项为期三年的研究旨在了解年轻人在20-23岁之间发展科学和职业选择和轨迹的过程。具体来说，拟议的研究将扩展第一次和第二次纵向aspire和ASPIRES2研究开发的独特数据集，该研究追踪了10-19岁年轻人的科学和职业抱负的发展（在10至18岁之间的五个时间点调查了39000多名年轻人，并在同一年龄段对61名年轻人及其父母进行了纵向重复访谈）。ASPIRES3将通过一项具有代表性的全国调查继续跟踪这一群体，调查对象为7-1万名年龄在20/21岁之间的年轻人，从之前进行过ASPIRES2 /ASPIRES2调查的人中抽取样本，并通过在线（社交媒体）招聘进行推广，作为一种特别成功地招募这一年龄组的媒体。该项目还将对从10岁开始进行纵向跟踪的60名学生及其父母进行访谈。该项目还将对来自16,000多名学生的先前aspire和ASPIRES2调查数据进行二次分析，并与大型国家数据库相匹配，以检查10/11岁时的态度和社会因素是否/哪些与20/21岁时的后来成就和生活结果有关。研究产生的知识将为国际/国家STEM教育政策和实践提供信息，特别是如何更好地增加和扩大义务教育后科学、技术、工程和数学的参与。该项目将成为唯一一个追踪年轻人从小学、义务教育、后义务教育和高等教育到工作的抱负（科学内外）的纵向项目。根据我们对实现有影响力的研究的承诺，这项研究将涉及与皇家化学学会、英国工程学会和物理研究所的三项有影响力的合作。调查结果和建议将通过广泛的学术期刊文章和定制摘要、出版物、活动和社交媒体传播给利益相关者。

In the UK, as in virtually every developed country, it is widely accepted that we need more people studying and working at all levels in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). STEM industries are vital elements of the global economy with jobs in science, technology and engineering predicted to grow at double the rate relative to other careers. Yet there is a widespread consensus that there is a substantial - and growing - STEM skills gap, with insufficient numbers of suitably STEM-qualified workers to meet demand. It has also been argued that STEM skills are beneficial for a wide range of careers and can promote social mobility. Relatedly, there are serious concerns about the lack of STEM-qualified graduates entering teaching and the potential impact of this shortfall not just on schools currently, but also for the future STEM skills gap. Alongside the need to increase STEM participation, important arguments have been made for the imperative to widen participation in STEM and ensure high levels of scientific, mathematical, technical and digital literacy across the population. Specifically, there is a need to broaden the gender, ethnic and social class profile of those who study STEM post-16, particularly in the physical sciences and engineering, where women, some minority ethnic and working-class communities are starkly under-represented. Yet initiatives aimed at increasing and/or widening the profile of STEM graduates appear to have had little lasting impact on the higher education participation rates. Understanding the factors shaping STEM participation is, therefore, a key priority area for governments and a wide range of stakeholders both nationally and internationally.The proposed three year study seeks to understand the processes through which young people develop their science and career choices and trajectories from age 20-23. Specifically, the proposed study will extend the unique dataset developed by the first and second longitudinal ASPIRES and ASPIRES2 studies, which tracked the development of young people's science and career aspirations from age 10-19 (surveying over 39,000 young people at five time points between the ages of 10 and 18 and longitudinal, repeat interviews with 61 young people and their parents over the same age period). ASPIRES3 will continue tracking this cohort via a representative national survey with c.7-10,000 young people at age 20/21, sampled from those who have previously conducted ASPIRES/ASPIRES2 surveys and boosted via online (social media) recruitment, as a media that is particularly successful for recruiting this age group. The project will also conduct interviews with c.60 students who have been longitudinally tracked from age 10 and their c.60 parents. The project will also undertake secondary analysis of previous ASPIRES & ASPIRES2 survey data from over 16,000 students, matched to large national data bases to examine whether/which attitudinal and social factors at age 10/11 relate to later attainment and life outcomes at age 20/21.The knowledge generated by the research will inform inter/national STEM education policy and practice, particularly how to better increase and widen post-compulsory participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The project will become the only longitudinal project to track young people's aspirations (in and out of science) from primary school, through compulsory, post-compulsory and higher education into work. In line with our commitment to achieving impactful research, the study will involve three impact collaborations with the Royal Society of Chemistry, Engineering UK and the Institute of Physics. Findings and recommendations will be disseminated via a wide range of academic journal articles and bespoke summaries, publications, events and social media for stakeholders.