Work Values

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Let’s practice identifying student work values and relating those values to STEM careers.

You are a teacher engaging in a series of mock conversations with students. Each student will reveal some work values. Your task is to first identify which work values have been revealed to you.

Then, you will relate STEM careers to those work values using what you have learned throughout this course by writing a response to the student. You can then test whether your response is aligned with the suggested, positive messaging about STEM careers.

Click Next to continue.

Next

Select a student.  

Aiyana
Meg
Chris
Manuel
Tori
Maria

You ask Aiyana what is important to her in a career, and she responds, “I want to earn lots of money and drive a fancy sports car. I’d like to be my own boss too!”

Can you identify which two work values have been expressed by this student? Select the correct response.

answer

Extrinsic, Intrinsic
Intrinsic, Social
Social, Prestige
Prestige, Extrinsic
Intrinsic, Prestige
Extrinsic, Social
That is correct! Aiyana is showing Extrinsic and Intrinsic work values.
That is incorrect! You must answer correctly to move to the second part of this scenario.
Next

Now that you have identified the student’s work values, how can you relate STEM careers to those work values using what you have learned throughout this module? Write a response to Aiyana in the following text field, then click Submit to compare your response to ours.

Submit
Extrinsic, Intrinsic

Did you know that STEM professionals are in demand, Aiyana ? In fact, STEM careers are some of the highest paying careers. Also, STEM professionals make great entrepreneurs and business leaders because they are creative problem-solvers.
Next

You ask Meg what is important to her in a career, and she responds, “It is important that I love my work, and that the work I do makes a difference in the world.”

Can you identify which two work values have been expressed by this student? Select the correct response.

answer

Prestige, Extrinsic
Extrinsic, Intrinsic
Intrinsic, Social
Social, Prestige
Extrinsic, Social
Intrinsic, Prestige
That is correct! Meg is showing Intrinsic and Social work values.
That is incorrect! You must answer correctly to move to the second part of this scenario.
Next

Now that you have identified the student’s work values, how can you relate STEM careers to those work values using what you have learned throughout this module?


Write a response to Meg in the following text field, then click Submit to compare your response to ours.

Submit
Intrinsic, Social

Did you know that STEM professionals collaborate with others to make a world of difference and to shape our future? It is easy to love your work when you know that you are changing the world, Meg.
Next

You ask Chris what is important to him in a career, and he responds, “I want to work with others to solve important problems for our world. I’d also like for people to respect me for my contributions.”

Can you identify which two work values have been expressed by this student? Select the correct response.

answer

Extrinsic, Social
Intrinsic, Social
Social, Prestige
Extrinsic, Intrinsic
Intrinsic, Prestige
Prestige, Extrinsic
That is correct! Chris is showing Social and Prestige work values.
That is incorrect! You must answer correctly to move to the second part of this scenario.
Next

Now that you have identified the student’s work values, how can you relate STEM careers to those work values using what you have learned throughout this module?


Write a response to Chris in the following text field, then click Submit to compare your response to ours.

Submit
Social, Prestige


Did you know that STEM professionals collaborate to make a world of difference and to shape our future? In addition, occupations in STEM disciplines consistently dominate the ranks of the most prestigious occupations. Most STEM careers are very well-respected, Chris.
Next

You ask Manuel what is important to him in a career, and he responds, “I want a job that allows me to have a better social status. I also want a good-paying job so that I can buy the things I want.”

Can you identify which two work values have been expressed by this student? Select the correct response.

answer

Intrinsic, Prestige
Extrinsic, Social
Intrinsic, Social
Social, Prestige
Prestige, Extrinsic
Extrinsic, Intrinsic
That is correct! Manuel is showing Prestige and Extrinsic work values.
That is incorrect! You must answer correctly to move to the second part of this scenario.
Next

Now that you have identified the student’s work values, how can you relate STEM careers to those work values using what you have learned throughout this module?


Write a response to Manuel in the following text field, then click Submit to compare your response to ours.

Submit

Prestige, Extrinsic


Manuel, occupations in STEM disciplines consistently dominate the ranks of the most prestigious occupations. This prestige can allow a person to work for the social status that they want. Moreover, STEM professions are some of the highest paid careers.
Next

You ask Tori what is important to her in a career, and she responds, “I’d like to work independently at times, to solve a piece of a bigger puzzle. In this way, people will be able to recognize and value my hard work.”

Can you identify which two work values have been expressed by this student? Select the correct response.

answer

Social, Prestige
Prestige, Extrinsic
Intrinsic, Prestige
Extrinsic, Intrinsic
Intrinsic, Social
Extrinsic, Social
That is correct! Tori is showing Intrinsic and Prestige work values.
That is incorrect! You must answer correctly to move to the second part of this scenario.
Next

Now that you have identified the student’s work values, how can you relate STEM careers, to those work values using what you have learned throughout this module?


Write a response to Tori in the following text field, then click Submit to compare your response to ours.

Submit

Intrinsic, Prestige


STEM professionals are creative problem-solvers and often work independently to solve big problems. This is right in line with what you are looking for, Tori! Also, occupations in STEM disciplines consistently dominate the ranks of the most prestigious occupations. This means that people will value your hard work and intelligence.
Next

You ask Maria what is important to her in a career, and she responds, “It is important that I have a career where I will always be able to find employment. I want that security so I can support a family someday. But also, I want to do work that really changes the world! ”

Can you identify which two work values have been expressed by this student? Select the correct response.

answer

Social, Prestige
Extrinsic, Intrinsic
Intrinsic, Prestige
Extrinsic, Social
Intrinsic, Social
Prestige, Extrinsic
That is correct! Maria is showing Extrinsic and Social work values.
That is incorrect! You must answer correctly to move to the second part of this scenario.
Next

Now that you have identified the student’s work values, how can you relate STEM careers to those work values using what you have learned throughout this module?


Write a response to Maria in the following text field, then click Submit to compare your response to ours.

Submit
Extrinsic, Social

Did you know that STEM professionals are always in demand, and are some of the highest paid professionals? Also, STEM professionals collaborate with others to make a world of difference and to shape our future!
Next
The key learning from this activity is that we as educators need to do three things:
  • Provide our students with tools and techniques to handle micro-inequities.
  • Supply our students with micro-affirmations where possible to increase their chances of succeeding in STEM careers.
  • Become aware of our own unconscious biases and stereotypical beliefs, and reduce our resultant micro-inequities.
Next
The key learning from this activity is that we as educators need to do three things:
  • Provide our students with tools and techniques to handle micro-inequities.
  • Supply our students with micro-affirmations where possible to increase their chances of succeeding in STEM careers.
  • Become aware of our own unconscious biases and stereotypical beliefs, and reduce our resultant micro-inequities.
We have some students with low self-efficacy and others with high self-efficacy. We must be particularly alert when we deal with students with low self-efficacy. For example, the female student Dee may be crushed if she was told that math was tough, or that she should drop out. But if we have inoculated her against micro-inequities and helped her build a healthy resilience, she may instead say:
  • “Well, my cousin Laila does really well in math. In fact she wants to be a math teacher one day. Maybe it’s just tough for some women?”
  • “I am disappointed that I didn’t study hard enough for this test. I can do better if I study more. Will you help me with problem 7?”
Next
The key learning from this activity is that we as educators need to do three things:
  • Provide our students with tools and techniques to handle micro-inequities.
  • Supply our students with micro-affirmations where possible to increase their chances of succeeding in STEM careers.
  • Become aware of our own unconscious biases and stereotypical beliefs, and reduce our resultant micro-inequities.
If we reflect on the responses in the various scenarios, we notice how powerful our comments and interactions with our students are, in shaping their future. When we conduct exercises with successful adults, it is surprising how many of them remember a single positive comment from a teacher, decades ago, which inspired them to pursue a STEM career.
Next
The key learning from this activity is that we as educators need to do three things:
  • Provide our students with tools and techniques to handle micro-inequities.
  • Supply our students with micro-affirmations where possible to increase their chances of succeeding in STEM careers.
  • Become aware of our own unconscious biases and stereotypical beliefs, and reduce our resultant micro-inequities.
Did you notice how the responses to Brian had almost no stereotypical beliefs about why math would be hard for him? How is this different from the responses to Dee, Maria, and Richard? Let’s now see how gender and culture can impact our stereotypical beliefs.

Reflect on your responses to the students in the scenarios. Did you react differently to people from diverse cultural backgrounds? To male versus female students?

If, for instance, we pass on our unconscious stereotypical beliefs that math is tough for women, we can have a powerful negative impact on female students’ chances to succeed in STEM careers. Always consider what micro-affirmations you could use.
Next
Initially developed at Harvard University, and now widely used, Implicit Association Tests (IATs) are excellent self-reflective tools to help uncover implicit biases. These self-assessments can be taken via Project Implicit. Of the multiple options available, the Gender-Science IAT or the Gender-Career IAT are most directly related to this Micromessaging module.
Next

You have completed this activity.

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