The Role of Math and Science Attitudes and Beliefs in Shaping Migratory Adolescents’ Aspirational Engineering Identity: An Exploratory Study

Developing an engineering identity is critical for supporting students’ engineering career pathways. Yet, migratory adolescents are often not afforded engineering experiences to support that identity formation. Early experiences in math and science often serve as gateways to engineering careers; examining students’ attitudes and beliefs in these subjects is essential to understanding identity formation. This study took an exploratory approach to examine how migratory adolescents’ math and science attitudes and beliefs, specifically their interest, recognition, and performance beliefs, contributed to developing an aspirational engineering identity. Mediation analysis was used to explore how math and science interest, recognition, and performance beliefs shaped the engineering identity formation of 227 migratory adolescents. Results show that math and science interest served as both a direct pathway to engineering identity and as the essential mediator linking performance beliefs and recognition to engineering identity development. Performance beliefs and recognition operated as interchangeable predictor variables but supported engineering identity through their influence on students’ interest in math and science. Multiple pathways emerged for fostering an engineering identity among migratory adolescents, rather than a singular path. These findings highlight the importance of cultivating math and science interest as a key mechanism for supporting engineering aspirations and informing future educational interventions for this underrepresented group.