The influence of support systems in StEM selection in rural south African schools

For your study on "The influence of support systems in STEM selection in rural South African schools," a robust theoretical framework can be built using a combination of Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) by Albert Bandura and Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory. This combination allows for an examination of both individual agency and the multi-layered environmental influences on learners' choices.

Here's how these theories can be applied:

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Theoretical Framework: Social Cognitive Theory and Ecological Systems Theory

1. Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) by Albert Bandura

• Core Idea: SCT posits that human functioning is a product of the reciprocal interaction of personal, behavioral, and environmental factors. It emphasizes the role of observational learning, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations in shaping individuals' choices and actions.
• Application to your study:
  • Personal Factors: This includes learners' self-efficacy (their belief in their ability to succeed in STEM subjects), their outcome expectations (what they believe they will gain from pursuing STEM careers), and their goals related to education and future employment. For example, a learner with high self-efficacy in mathematics, influenced by a supportive teacher, is more likely to select advanced math.
  • Environmental Factors: This encompasses the various support systems you identified:
    • Teacher Influence: Teachers act as models and provide direct feedback, shaping learners' self-efficacy and interest in STEM. Encouragement and effective teaching strategies (as per Ramaila, 2022) enhance positive environmental influence.
    • Family and Socio-Economic Influence: Parental expectations, guidance, and knowledge of STEM careers (Sedibe, 2011) create a supportive or unsupportive environment.
    • Peer Influence: Peers can model behaviors and attitudes towards STEM, either encouraging or discouraging selection (Maree, 2010).
    • School Resources and Career Guidance: The availability of labs, materials, and structured career counselling (Moloi, 2010; Diale, 2011) are environmental factors that provide opportunities for learning and informed decision-making.
  • Behavioral Factors: The ultimate selection of STEM subjects by learners.
  • Reciprocal Determinism: SCT highlights that these factors interact. For instance, a learner's positive experience in a science class (behavior) can increase their self-efficacy (personal), leading them to seek out more STEM-related activities (environment), which further reinforces their choice.

2. Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory

• Core Idea: This theory views human development as a dynamic process of interaction between an individual and their environment, organized into nested systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem.
• Application to your study: This theory helps to contextualize the support systems within the broader rural South African setting.
  • Microsystem: The immediate environments where learners directly interact with support systems. This includes the classroom (teacher-learner interactions, teaching strategies), the home (parent-learner interactions, family expectations), and peer groups (friend interactions).
  • Mesosystem: The interactions and connections between different microsystems. For example, how parental involvement (home microsystem) influences a learner's engagement with teachers (classroom microsystem), or how school-based career guidance (school microsystem) is reinforced or contradicted by family advice (home microsystem).
  • Exosystem: External settings that indirectly affect the learner but in which the learner does not directly participate. This includes school administration policies on resource allocation, community STEM initiatives, or the socio-economic conditions of the rural community that affect family resources and parental employment opportunities.
  • Macrosystem: The broader cultural values, laws, customs, and socio-economic structures that influence all other systems. In the South African context, this includes historical inequalities in education and resource distribution (Jansen; Spaull, 2013), societal perceptions of STEM careers, and national education policies. These macro-level factors profoundly shape the resources available in rural schools and the opportunities perceived by learners.
  • Chronosystem: The dimension of time, including socio-historical circumstances and life transitions. This could refer to changes in educational policies over time or the long-term impact of historical inequalities on current STEM selection trends.

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Integration of Theories

By combining SCT and Ecological Systems Theory, your study can:

1. Explain Individual Choices (SCT): Understand how learners make decisions about STEM subjects based on their personal beliefs (self-efficacy, outcome expectations) and their direct interactions within immediate support systems (teachers, family, peers).
2. Contextualize Influences (Ecological Systems Theory): Show why these support systems operate differently in rural South African schools by considering the broader environmental layers, such as resource inequalities, socio-economic disparities, and historical legacies.

This integrated framework allows for a comprehensive analysis of how various support systems, operating at different ecological levels, ultimately influence learners' STEM subject selection in the specific context of rural South African schools.