While the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) graduates are required to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses in college, some end up unable to complete a STEM course. The participants were interviewed electronically to describe events that led them to other career paths. The responses indicate that all the participants initially enrolled in a STEM course with the intentions to comply with their PSHS scholarship agreements. Three themes emerged from the responses. The first is the lure of other interests. Sometime in their second year in college, some participants began to consider other interests. The second theme that emerged was getting low grades. The earlier advantage of strong pre-college training offered by the PSHS was not able to sustain them in more advanced courses. The third theme was on socio-economic factors. The low grades led to termination of college scholarships in STEM. With these, financial challenges came and some participants opted for less expensive college courses. Despite the non-completion of a STEM course, all participants agreed that the strong training in sciences, technology and mathematics remain relevant in their chosen fields.
ISSN 1656-0604 (Print)
Philippine E-Journals
