Extracurricular activities in science as a mediating variable: Predicting career choice in engineering
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Students' interest in STEM careers is influenced by various factors. Elements such as physics identity and science-related experiences outside the classroom play a fundamental role in career choices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This study analyzes the relationship between interest, competence, and recognition in physics, and career choice in engineering, as well as the influence of extracurricular activities on this relationship. Responses from 282 engineering students, collected via a Google Form, were used. The results revealed that career choice in engineering is correlated with interest, competence, and recognition in physics. Mediation analysis showed that this choice is significantly related to competence and recognition in physics, but not to interest, when activities and experiences outside the science classroom are involved. The study concludes that interest, competence, recognition in physics, and extracurricular activities significantly predict career choice in engineering. Keywords: Extracurricular activities in science, career choice in engineering, interest in physics, competence in physics, recognition in physics.
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