| School systems across the United States have launched the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math recruitment initiatives to interest students in related majors and careers. While an overall interest of high school students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math majors and careers has increased by over twenty-five percent in the past two decades, there is still a significant gender and racial gap in the number of minorities and women who enroll in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math courses. At an American High School in Germany, the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math initiative is fairly new, and the enrollment of females and male students of color in the school's Science, Technology, Engineering and Math elective courses are low. This quantitative ex post facto study investigated the math self-efficacy scores of female students and male students of color who were currently enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math elective courses or were previously enrolled since 2013 and female students and male students of color who elected not to enroll in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math elective courses at the high school. A t-test was used to assess the difference in the means of the math self-efficacy scores of the female students and male students of color who are enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math elective courses and female students and male students of color who elected not to enroll in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math elective courses at the high school. Results from the t-tests are 0.9150 (p<0.05) between the male students of color, and 0.1073 (p<.05) between the female students. Essentially, the results indicate that there is no statistical significance in the mean scores for female students, or the male students of color who enroll in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math elective courses and the mean scores of females and male students of color that elect to not enroll in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math elective courses. Several recommendations on further research are presented to explore issues regarding why the special student populations in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math elective courses at the high school are so low. |
