The postmodern perfectionist, the pragmatic hedonist and the materialist maximalist: understanding high school students' profile choices towards or away from mathematics, science and technology (MST) fields in the Netherlands

• Published in: Gender and education Vol. 29; no. 7; pp. 831 - 849
• Main Authors: Yazilitas, D., Saharso, S., de Vries, G.C., Svensson, J.S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 10-11-2017; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Chemistry; Correlation; Course Selection (Students); Cultural Influences; Cultural values; Ethnic differences; Ethnicity; Foreign Countries; Gender; Gender Differences; High School Students; Ideal types; Mathematics; Mixed Methods Research; Perfectionism; Physics; Postmodernism; Profiles; Racial differences; science; Science and technology; secondary education; Secondary school students; STEM Education; Technology; the Netherlands; Values; Netherlands
• ISSN: 0954-0253; 1360-0516
• DOI: 10.1080/09540253.2016.1166185

This study focuses on high school students' profile choices and the choice for or against the Nature and Technology (NT) profile in the Netherlands. A mixed-methods approach is used to study cultural values that affect this choice. The quantitative part of the study shows that being female is negatively correlated with the choice for the NT-profile, irrespective of the grade average for mathematics, chemistry and physics. It further shows that students' ethnic background does not have a significant effect on this choice. The qualitative part of the study reveals that students' choice processes towards or away from NT can be categorised in three ideal types: the postmodern perfectionist, the pragmatic hedonist and the materialist maximalist. Gender differences appear to be more pervasive across these types than differences in ethnic background.