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This study was conducted to investigate the mechanisms that could discourage girls’ aspirations to pursue science careers. We looked at how parents transmit their interests in science differently between girls and boys, which would impact the students’ future science-related aspirations. Surprisingly, the results suggested that parental interest in science may not be the factor driving the difference in aspiration by gender. We found a low correlation between parent’s and student’s interest in science, and boys did not have significantly higher correlation than girls. Our next step is to investigate possible mechanisms that contribute to higher parental interest in science among boys than for girls. Participating in this research project has granted me an opportunity to pursue original questions under the guidance of Professor Park who gave me substantial guidance on using the PISA data set, developing a feasible research question, and providing feedback for further improvement.  

This study was conducted to investigate the mechanisms that could discourage girls’ aspirations to pursue science careers. We looked at how parents transmit their interests in science differently between girls and boys, which would impact the students’ future science-related aspirations. Surprisingly, the results suggested that parental interest in science may not be the factor driving the difference in aspiration by gender. We found a low correlation between parent’s and student’s interest in science, and boys did not have significantly higher correlation than girls. Our next step is to investigate possible mechanisms that contribute to higher parental interest in science among boys than for girls. Participating in this research project has granted me an opportunity to pursue original questions under the guidance of Professor Park who gave me substantial guidance on using the PISA data set, developing a feasible research question, and providing feedback for further improvement.