02/01/2025

Using 'Preflection' to Improve STEM Career Development

By Lia D. Falco, Jessica J. Summers, Sabina S. Iturralde, Qianqian Wang, and Yamini Bhukya

STEM Matters

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers play a crucial role in shaping the future workforce, addressing complex global challenges, and fostering economic growth (National Science Board, 2020). As industries increasingly depend on the development of technology, the demand for the workforce in STEM continues to rise. Encouraging students of all ages to learn STEM subjects not only addresses workforce needs, but also helps students cultivate their critical thinking, problem-solving, and group work skills (Sen et al., 2018). This is particularly important for ensuring global competitiveness and innovation in critical sectors of the economy (Othman et al., 2024). However, certain factors such as limited resources, social stereotypes, and lack of role models in STEM fields can hinder STEM participation for some groups, especially girls and underrepresented students from minority and low-income backgrounds (Wang et al., 2023).

It is important for career practitioners in all settings to help cultivate a diverse STEM workforce and address inequity. Encouraging individuals from an early age to engage and persist in STEM can open doors to high-paying, stable jobs and improve access to opportunity.  Many STEM career interventions are brief and designed to target outcomes such as interest, motivation, self-efficacy, or career decision-making and are generally effective at doing so.  To improve STEM career decision-making over the long term, it is also important to help individuals understand where STEM can lead and the range of jobs that STEM can be useful for.

Promoting Preflection and Reflection

Transformational practice involves promoting preflection and reflection. Preflection and reflection are critical for translating educational activities and exercises into meaningful, sustainable change in students’ lives (Slavich & Zimbardo, 2012). In short, preflection describes any type of reflective actions that occur before a particular activity has begun; reflection, in contrast, concerns reflective actions that occur after an intervention or activity has ended (Shellenbarger et al., 2005). Given the central importance of preflection and reflection for facilitating learning and personal growth, career practitioners are encouraged to consider using these techniques to augment career interventions designed to engage and motivate students in STEM.  Preflection may be particularly effective for supporting students to consider how their lived experiences and unique identities are connected to their STEM interests. 

Preflection questions can be a powerful tool for STEM career interventions as they prime students to engage more deeply with upcoming activities by encouraging them to reflect on their thoughts, feelings, and motivations. These questions are designed to activate students' sense of anticipation and self-awareness before the learning experience begins. Preflection prompts students to reflect on what they expect to gain and how the experience will impact them personally.  It helps students connect emotionally to the content. These priming questions guide students to reflect on their personal experience navigating STEM activities as well as educational and career pathways.

Examples of Preflection Questions for STEM Career Interventions

1. What excites you most about learning something new in STEM?
2. Do you see any connections between STEM and your everyday life?  If so, what are they?
3. What is one STEM career you are curious about and why?
4. How do you feel about working on STEM projects?
5. Who are some role models (if any) you know in STEM fields? What do you admire about them?
6. What challenges do you think you might face in learning STEM, and how can you approach them?
7. How do you feel about collaborating with others in STEM activities?
8. What do you think STEM learning can contribute to solving global issues like climate change, health, or technology?
9. Do you feel encouraged to pursue a STEM career?
10. What would help you feel supported in STEM?

Strategies and Suggestions for Using Preflection in STEM Career Development

Preflection encourages students to imagine what the experience will be like and to express any feelings they might have as they anticipate their involvement. Reactions and comments can be recorded using a variety of methods – journals, photographs, group chats, etc. – and then reviewed with the students after the activity or intervention has been completed. Being able to look back on their early thoughts and feelings and compare them to the reality of the actual experience has the effect of promoting and focusing discussion and deepening insights into the relevance of the activity for each participant (Falk, 1995). For those interested in expanding their repertoire of options for supporting STEM career development outcomes, preflection can provide the framework for a variety of reflection activities.

Following are suggestions for using the recorded preflection reactions during STEM career development activities:

• Distribute preflection questions and reactions, and review them in small groups; have
  group members discuss and record reactions, areas of curiosity or hesitation, new
  ideas, etc.
• Ask individuals or small groups to share their thinking before and after activity or intervention; reactions to a selected preflection question; or in what ways their thinking changed or stayed the same.
• Create a collage illustrating an individual's or the group's feelings about
  some aspect of the experience.
• Discuss the results of these activities with the participants; in small groups ask participants to identify the ways their thoughts, feelings, or attitudes towards STEM education/occupations have changed or stayed the same.

Navigating a career in STEM can be incredibly rewarding, but it also comes with challenges for many individuals. Integrating preflection into STEM career development activities encourages students to anticipate future challenges and opportunities in STEM fields, enabling them to align their educational pathways with their career aspirations (Lent et al., 1994). This not only fosters engagement but also encourages them to think critically about how their experiences will influence their future academic and career paths. These questions prime feelings of anticipation and purpose, encouraging more meaningful engagement with STEM activities.  For career practitioners, preflection is a strategy and tool for reflection that can be adapted and tailored for a wide range of STEM career development activities and audiences.

References

Falk, D. (1995). Preflection: A strategy for enhancing reflection. NSEE Quarterly,13. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/slceeval/22

Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career  and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45(1), 79-122.

National Science Board. (2020). The state of U.S. science and engineering 2020. National Science Foundation. https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20201/

Othman, Z. S., Zawawi, W. A. N. W. A., Khalid, A. K., & Ismail, N. (2024). Enhancing problem solving and critical thinking in STEM: Evaluation of the IDEAS programme. In International Conference on Governance, Management & Social Innovation (ICGMSI 2023; pp.16-29). Atlantis Press.

Sen, C., Ay, Z. S., & Kiray, S. A. (2018). STEM skills in the 21st century education. Research Highlights in STEM Education, 81-101.

Shellenbarger, T., Palmer, E. A., Labant, A. L., & Kuzneski, J. L. (2005). Use of faculty reflection to improve teaching. Annual Review of Nursing Education, 3, 343-358.

Slavich, G. M., & Zimbardo, P. G. (2012). Transformational teaching: Theoretical underpinnings, basic principles, and core methods. Educational Psychology Review, 24, 569-608.

Wang, N., Tan, A. L., Zhou, X., Liu, K., Zeng, F., & Xiang, J. (2023). Gender differences in high school students’ interest in STEM careers: A multi-group comparison based on structural equation model. International Journal of STEM Education, 10, 59. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-023-00443-6

Lia D. Falco, Ph.D. (University of Arizona) is an associate professor of Counseling in the Educational Psychology Department.  Her expertise is in the area of career development with research that explores how adolescents view themselves as future workers and how career issues are related to motivation and identity. Her specific focus is STEM career choice, and her scholarship seeks to identify and evaluate educational practices that are effective at supporting students who are under-represented in STEM occupations. She can be reached at ldf@arizona.edu

Jessica Summers, Ph.D. (University of Texas at Austin, 2002) is a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Arizona. She previously served on the faculty of the University of Missouri-Columbia. Summers' scholarship focuses on understanding the role of motivation and social relationships in learning and achievement, specifically how social context (as both processes and phenomena) affects students' motivation to learn, and how this contributes to students' overall success as learners.

Sabina Iturralde is a doctoral candidate in Educational Psychology at the University of Arizona. Her BA is in Psychology with a minor in Special Education and Rehabilitation. Her research investigates the impact of college and career preparation programs in STEM among underrepresented students in high school and higher education.

Qianqian Wang is a first-year PhD student in Educational Psychology at the University of Arizona, with six years of teaching experience. Her research focuses on teacher motivation and the development of students' professional identities. She is particularly interested in how students' motivation evolves within the changing social environment, including the influence of internet culture and social media.

Yamini Sumalatha Bhukya is a second-year PhD student in the Educational Psychology Department at the University of Arizona.  Her research focuses on language and motor development, along with educational issues affecting minoritized populations. Yamini is affiliated with the Center for Educational Assessment, Research, and Evaluation (CEARE), where she works on various evaluation projects, and the Child Development, Education, and Policy (CDEP) lab. She is also part of the BioS.P.H.E.R.Es Lab, which studies biomarkers for social, psychological health, and educational retention.