Why students later pursue careers in STEM subjects

National Science Foundation funds project with participation of the University of Bonn with about 2.5 million US dollars An international team including Thomas Dohmen, spokesperson of the ECONtribute Cluster of Excellence at the Universities of Bonn and Cologne, has received a grant of up to $2.5 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NFS). In the funded study, the researchers will determine the extent to which students' personality traits, executive function skills, and preferences predict their later academic achievement and careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The project will run for five years. Thomas Dohmen is collaborating on the project with Nobel Prize-winning economist James J. Heckman, director of the Center for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago. The other co-principal investigators are Stephanie M. Carlson of the University of Minnesota and Patrick. C Kyllonen of the Educational Testing Service. The multidisciplinary team headed by James J. Heckman will measure students' executive function skills, traits and preferences to see which can best predict performance in STEM courses from fourth grade through high school.