Trends and patterns in subject choice by science students at sixth form level in Malta

Abstract

Education is crucial and it entails important choices at various stages during a student’s secondary and post-secondary years. At certain stages of their schooling, students need to choose the subjects to study and such decisions affect their future careers and working lives. Students are ‘influenced’ in their subject choice by a number of factors, such as a preferred career path, influence of parents and/ or peers, etc. In Malta, following secondary school, at 16 years of age, students choose their Advanced (A) level subjects at post-secondary level, that has a direct bearing on their eventual tertiary education. This study investigates the reasons influencing subject choice at Sixth Form level. The research sample consisted of two groups of post-sec second-year Science students, namely 243 A level Biology and Chemistry (BC) and 116 Pure Mathematics and Physics (PMP) students. The student questionnaires were constructed following an investigation conducted with eight experts, who were requested to list three factors that influence students in their A level subject choice. The outcome showed that the experts, the BC and the PMP student groups did not always concur on the most or least influential factors for subject choice. The students identified career aspirations as the most influential factor for subject choice. Experts indicated career aspirations and subject difficulty as the main influences. There was no clear agreement between BC and PMP students, and experts on the least influential factors (from SEC exam results, family and peer influence, and lack of passion towards the subjects).