Chapter 10: A Relative Cognitive Strength and Interest Model: A New Perspective for Understanding Individual and Gender Differences in STEM Fields

In an introductory psychology course on a college campus, an instructor posed an interesting question to her students: “Why did you decide to major in psychology?” The students each pondered the question for a few moments before jotting down their thoughts. When the class had finished writing out their ideas, the instructor asked the students to transfer their answers onto the board in front of the classroom. During the class discussion that followed, it became clear that the majority of the answers followed similar themes. In particular, a large number of students had focused on career-specific interests and/or personal strengths that drew them toward the field: Statements such as “I like working with people”; “I’m a people person”; and “I like helping people” reflected students’ strong communal goals or altruistic interests. In other words, many of these youth identified psychology as a suitable career in which they could achieve their desire to work with or help others. However, identifying specific interests or desires that align well with psychology was not the only pattern of responses that emerged. Another popular category of responses centered on the disinterests and or personal weaknesses that pushed students away from other fields. In particular, the most commonly cited disinterest was a general aversion to mathematics, with responses such as “I stink at math!”; “Psychology is a field with no math. “; “I didn’t want to do any math!”; and “I don’t mind reading or writing, but no math!”. For these students, choosing their major was a complex process of weighing their relative abilities and interests across and against several different subject domains. Overall, it became clear that these students’ interests and abilities were highly influential in the process of selecting their major or career.