Exploring Filipino STEM Students’ Struggles in Mathematics: Contributing Factors and Implications for Teaching

Despite its crucial role in shaping critical thinking and problem-solving skills, mathematics remains one of the most challenging subjects for students, particularly in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) strand. Various factors, including self-esteem, instructional delivery, learning environment, and time management, can influence the success of Filipino STEM students in mathematics. However, the specific impacts of these factors remain underexplored, particularly in the Philippine context. Given the increasing emphasis on STEM education, understanding STEM students' struggles in mathematics is essential for improving instructional strategies and student support programs. Thus, this study examines these struggles and their implications for teaching, providing insights specific to the Filipino STEM education context. Using an embedded mixed-methods design, data were collected from 82 Filipino STEM students in a public secondary school in Eastern Visayas through surveys and semi-structured interviews. This study found a statistically significant but weak positive correlation between self-esteem and mathematics performance, suggesting that students with higher self-esteem tend to perform slightly better. Nonetheless, no significant correlations were observed between students’ mathematics performance and the other factors examined. Further, STEM students identified several reasons for their struggles in mathematics, including the subject matter complexity and learning pace in mathematics, apathy due to inadequate teaching and classroom management, lack of mastery of basic concepts and procedures, time constraints due to STEM subject overload, and difficulties in comprehension due to tardiness. This study provides insights that can enhance teaching methodologies and student support programs for future STEM professionals in the Philippines.