Why STEM? The External Factors Influencing International STEM Postdoctoral Scholars' Career Decision

This research paper explores the external factors that influence international STEM postdoctoral scholars to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Understanding these factors may be critical as the U.S. grapples with the need to broaden and diversify participation in the global STEM workforce. Duffy and Dik (2009) identified four key external factors that influence a person's career decision: (1) family expectations and needs, (2) life circumstances, (3) spiritual and religious reasons, and (4) social service motivations. Using an instrumental case study design (Stake, 1995), interviews with 20 international STEM postdoctoral scholars occurred to explore the external factors that influenced their STEM career decision deductively. Three themes emerged: (1) parents were highly encouraging, (2) a love of science was nurtured in school, and (3) they were eager to engage in and promote scientific innovation. These findings illustrate the ways in which family, schools, and community influence the STEM career trajectories of international postdoctoral scholars. This knowledge base can be valuable when seeking to recruit and retain them in the U.S. STEM workforce. The identified factors also could be particularly instructive to U.S. primary and secondary school teachers and administrators, as well as U.S. higher education faculty.