HOUSTON – (Jan. 25, 2021) – College students studying STEM fields who choose careers that align with their interests are more committed and less likely to consider a change of direction than those who don't, according to a new study Rice University psychologists.
"The college-to-career transition in STEM: An eleven-year longitudinal study of perceived and objective vocational interest fit" appeared in a recent edition of the Journal of Vocational Behavior. The paper was authored by Rice alumna Michelle Kim and Margaret Beier, a professor of psychological sciences at Rice.
The study tracked a group of 159 science, technology, engineering and math students from 2007 to 2018. The authors examined their majors, career interests and degrees, as well as their first jobs immediately after graduation and seven years later.
The findings revealed that the alignment of career interest and college major has a significant impact on whether students complete their degrees, where they get their first jobs and what attitudes they have toward their careers.
"Those who chose a major and a job aligned with their career interests were more likely to be happy and successful and committed to their careers," she said.
The study also found people’s jobs tend to become more aligned with their interests over time, especially among those who change jobs more frequently.
Beier said the results suggest measuring career interest in college is a highly effective predictor of future trajectories and success, and that the findings may also apply to students outside of STEM fields.
The paper is available online at https://bit.ly/360BMhQ.
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Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,978 undergraduates and 3,192 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction and No. 1 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.