1250 - SEFI

Joint International IGIP-SEFI Annual Conference 2010, 19 th - 22 nd September 2010, Trnava, Slovakia 

DIFFERENCES IN PERSON-THING ORIENTATION IN STEM MAJORS 

ACROSS THREE COUNTRIES 

Ida Ngambeki 1 , Demetra Evangelou 1 , Feyza Corapci 2 , Despina Sakka 3 William 

Graziano 4 , Diana Bairaktarova 1 , Meara Habashi 5 

1 Purdue University, School of Engineering Education, 701 W. Stadium Avenue, West 

Lafayette IN 47906, USA 

ingambek@purdue.edu 

evangeloud@purdue.edu 

dbairakt@purdue.edu 

2 Bogazici University, Department of Psychology, 34342 Bebek, Istanbul, Turkey 

feyza.corapci@boun.edu.tr 

3 Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Primary Education, Nea Chili, 681 

00 Alexandroupolis, Greece 

dsakka@eled.duth.gr 

1 Purdue University, Department of Psychological Sciences, 703 Third Street 

West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2081, USA 

graziano@purdue.edu 

5 Iowa Wesleyan College, Department of Psychology, 601 N. Main Street, Mt. 

Pleasant, Iowa 52641, USA 

meara.habashi@iwc.edu 

Abstract: The question of the importance of interest in gaining and retaining 

students is relevant in all professional fields. In recent years interest has emerged as 

a significant factor in encouraging students to pursue careers in science, technology, 

engineering, and mathematics fields. If students choose fields of study which match 

their interests, they are more likely to stay and succeed in their field. This is 

especially important as we consider the question of underrepresentation of women in 

engineering. In this study interest is conceptualized as Person-Thing Orientation. 

Person-Thing Orientation (PTO) is a motivational process underlying preference for 

interpersonal relations and mastery over objects respectively. This study considers 

the role that Person-Thing Orientation plays in students’ choice of science, 

engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and their 

corresponding careers. The populations in this study are university students from 

three cultural contexts: Greece, Turkey, and the United States. Thing orientation was 

found to be a strong predictor of interest in STEM courses of study, particularly 

engineering, and interest in the corresponding careers. In all three samples Greek 

university students (N=120; 80 female), Turkish university students (N = 195; 60 

females), and American university students (N = 402; 139 female), person orientation 

and thing orientation were found to be weakly positively correlated. In all three 

samples males tended to be higher in thing orientation while females were higher in 

person orientation. Males were also more interested in thing oriented careers (e.g. 

mechanical engineering, auto mechanic) while females were more interested in


person oriented careers (e.g. nurse, teacher). When only the STEM sample was 

considered, thing orientation was found to be highly correlated to an interest in thing 

careers but the same did not hold true for men in this sample. This would suggest 

that women need to be more interested than men do to pursue a career that is not 

gender role congruent. 

Key words: Person-Thing Orientation, STEM, Motivation, Career Choice 

1. Introduction 

The question of the importance of interest in gaining and retaining students is 

relevant in all professional fields. However, very little is known about the role and 

structure of interest in enrollment and persistence in science, technology, 

engineering, and math (STEM) fields, particularly engineering. In recent years 

interest has emerged as a significant factor in encouraging students to pursue 

careers in STEM fields [1]. Students who choose a field which is in line with their 

interests are more likely to remain and be successful in that field. On the other hand, 

students who choose fields outside of their interests often become bored and 

frustrated and more likely to leave [2]. The question of interest is an important one 

particularly in encouraging underrepresented groups to pursue engineering. 

The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and 

mathematics (STEM) fields has emerged as a significant challenge. This 

underrepresentation is present across the globe [3]. Based on statistics published by 

the Jordanian Engineers Association in 2007, women made up 14% of the total 

number of engineers [4], in India female enrollment in engineering is 18% [5]. This 

underrepresentation is also present in all three cultural contexts considered in this 

study with the percentage of female engineering students in Turkey averaging 19% 

[6], in the United States the number is around 20% [7], while in Greece the average 

is about 25% [8].These low numbers have persisted despite a variety of efforts aimed 

at raising them. These efforts have largely focused on providing support to 

underrepresented groups and increasing the preparation of incoming students. 

However, literature on career choice suggests that vocational interest is a strong 

determinant of entry into and persistence in a career path [9]. Interests as related to 

vocational theory can be characterized in terms of a Person-Thing dimension and an 

Ideas -Data dimension [10]. In this study we focus on the Person – Thing dimension. 

Person-Thing Orientation (PTO) is conceptualized as a motivational process 

underlying preference for interpersonal relations and mastery over objects, 

respectively [11]. There is growing interest in exploring the acquisition of interest in 

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) careers based on PTO. 

There is evidence to indicate that that the structure of vocational interest is similar 

across cultures. In a study comparing American and Mexican engineering students 

and professional engineers found that the cross cultural structure of vocational 

interest remained the same [12]. This similarity was attributed to the professions 

studied, i.e. highly technical STEM professions, which remain fairly similar across 

cultures. A study of more culturally based professions, for example law, revealed 

differences in the structure of vocational interest [13]. Though vocational interest has 

a strong influence on career related choices, [9] as we consider interest and career


choice across cultural contexts, it is important to remember that culture has 

a significant effect on vocational choice and the role that interest plays in that choice. 

There are common assumptions about career choice, for example that all individuals 

have access to the same opportunities and that the choice of one’s career is an 

individual one based on an individual’s interest and ability, this is especially true in 

the United States; however, in many cultures this is not true. Therefore it is important 

to remember that “individuals' culture, their ethnic-racial background, language, 

socioeconomic status, sex, and religious affiliation all affect self-perception and view 

of career options“ [14]. 

As a first step to examining the role of PTO as an influence on career choice, we 

must first understand the relationship between PO and TO and interest in the related 

careers particularly in STEM fields before the link can made to how these 

orientations influence the choice to pursue those careers. As such the purpose of this 

study was twofold: to examine differential orientation to persons and things among 

college students and the relationship of this Person-Thing Orientation (PTO) to major 

and career choice in three cultural contexts i.e. Greece, Turkey and the United 

States, and to examine the validity of the instrument used to measure PTO across 

cultural contexts. 

2. Method 

Data were collected from college students at three different universities in Greece, 

Turkey and the United States. Data from the Greek sample were collected at 

Democritus University of Thrace in North-Eastern Greece. The sample consisted of 

120 students, 60 STEM and 60 non-STEM. The STEM students were primarily from 

the civil engineering department while the non-STEM students were primarily from 

the department of education. The average age of the students was 23.4 years. The 

Turkish sample was collected at Bogazici University and consisted of 195 students; 

124 were from STEM-related departments and 71 were from social sciences (e.g., 

psychology, sociology). The mean age of the students was 21 years. Bogazici 

University is a small competitive college in Istanbul, which accepts only applications 

from the top 1% from a nationally held entrance exam in which approximately 1 

million students compete. Data from the US sample were collected from 402 students 

at Purdue University in the Midwestern United States. The STEM students were 

primarily from the engineering program while the non-STEM students in this 

population were liberal arts students (e.g. history, sociology). Table 1 below shows 

the distribution of participants by major and sex in the three samples. 

Table 1: Sex distribution of participants 

STEM Non-STEM Total 

Male Female Male Female 

Greece 35 25 5 55 120 

Turkey 94 30 11 60 195 

United States 137 30 126 109 402


Data on orientation were collected using the Person-Thing Orientation Scale 

originally developed by Little [11] and revised and validated by Graziano, Habashi, 

Ngambeki, & Evangelou [15]. Data regarding career interest were collected using the 

Occupational Scale [16]. Demographic information was also obtained from all 

participants. For the US sample, data were collected using an electronic survey. For 

the Greek and Turkish samples data were collected using paper surveys. In the 

Greek and Turkish contexts all scales were translated into the language and back 

into English and expert feedback was sought on the validity of term equivalency. 

Scales were scored and data analyzed using common statistical methods. 

3. Results 

The results revealed that males were higher than females in thing orientation in all 

three contexts, while females scored higher than males in person orientation in all 

three contexts. Table 2 below shows the distribution of person and thing orientation 

by sex in the three samples. 

Table 2: Person and thing orientation means by sex (SD in brackets) 

Person Orientation Thing Orientation 

Male Female Male Female 

Greece 2.8(.57) 3.21(.65) 3.19(.81) 2.74(.73) 

Turkey 1.96(.68) 2.49(.58) 2.00(.73) 1.71(.78) 

United States 2.10(.69) 2.49(.61) 2.30(.78) 1.71(.79) 

Students in the Greek sample scored uniformly higher in both person and thing 

orientation than the other two samples. Contrary to the US sample, neither Greek nor 

Turkish female students differed from their male counterparts in TO. However, Greek 

and Turkish female students reported significantly higher PO than males. 

The results also revealed that STEM students were higher than non-STEM students 

in TO in all three contexts. Analyses also revealed a main effect of major in the 

Turkish context (F (1, 193) = 36.14, p


The results also revealed that PO and TO were independent in the Turkish sample (r 

= 0.08, ns) and positively correlated in the US (r = 0.2, p


Table 5: Person orientation, thing orientation, person and thing careers, correlations by major and 

gender 

STEM 

Non-STEM 

Female Male Female Male 

PO TO PO TO PO TO PO TO 

P 

0.147 -0.082 .298 .332 0.131 -0.009 -0.490 0 

career 

Greece 

T 

-0.062 .473** -.091 .007 .311* 0.253 0 -0.174 

career 

P 

.206 .240 .486** .160 .284* 0.056 0.496 0.469 

career 

Turkey 

T 

.293 .699** .222* .614** -0.025 .589** -0.158 .822** 

career 

P 

.150 -.080 .148 .034 .313** -0.008 .197* -0.035 

United career 

States T 

.404* .486* .021 .165 -.270** .446** -.248** 0.154 

career 

**Correlation is significant at the or below the 0.01 level (2-tailed); *correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2- 

tailed) 

For female STEM majors PO is not related to an interest in person oriented careers, 

however thing orientation is related to an interest in thing oriented careers (Greece: r 

= .473, p < 0.001; Turkey: r = .699, p < 0.001; US: r = .486, p = 0.05).For male STEM 

students person orientation is only related to an interest in person careers for the 

Turkish sample (r = .486, p < 0.001), and thing orientation is only related to an 

interest in thing oriented careers in the same sample (r = .614, p < 0.001). In the non- 

STEM sample a clear predictive pattern does not emerge. 

4. Discussion 

The results indicate that thing orientation is an important predictor of interest in a 

given career. This finding agrees with previous studies which have concluded the 

structure of interest in closely related to and influences vocational choice [9]. The 

pattern of differentiation in PO and TO in all three contexts were similar, though not 

identical, by sex though it differs by major which also agrees with previous findings 

regarding the cross-cultural structure of interest. Women score higher in PO in all 

three contexts suggesting, as expected, that women in this sample are more 

interested in interpersonal relations than men. Whether this is an innate trait or the 

result of socialization remains open to discussion. Apart from the US context, women 

score about even with men in TO suggesting that, contrary to popular belief, women 

in these samples are as interested in things as men. Looking at PO and TO by major, 

it is clear that STEM students score significantly higher in TO than non-STEM 

students. This indicates that interest in or alternatively a disposition to mastery over 

objects is an important characteristic of students who select STEM majors. On the 

other hand, non-STEM students score significantly higher in PO indicating a greater 

interest in interpersonal relations. Interestingly while non-STEM students TO scores 

are well below the average, STEM students PO scores are about average suggesting


that while STEM students may be more interested in objects, this interest is not 

incompatible with a disposition towards people. The consistency of the pattern of TO 

and PO across the three cultural contexts suggests that these constructs themselves 

are independent of cultural factors. 

There is a significant finding that in all three contexts, TO was related to interest in 

thing oriented careers (such as mechanic and engineer) and PO was related to 

interest in person oriented careers (such as nurses and teachers). Given that most 

STEM careers are thing oriented careers; this finding indicates that TO may be 

leveraged to increase interest in STEM. This might also help to explain the 

underrepresentation of women in STEM fields. In all three contexts, women scored 

lower than men in TO and higher in PO. This would suggest that in order to increase 

women’s participation in STEM, efforts must focus on either finding ways to 

encourage the development of TO in women or must use PO as well as TO to relate 

to STEM careers. This could be done by manipulating the messages women receive 

about STEM careers to emphasize that while these careers are commonly perceived 

as thing oriented, many of them include person oriented goals and processes which 

female students might find more appealing. 

It is also interesting to note that when just the STEM sample is considered, for female 

students TO is strongly related to an interest in thing oriented careers while the same 

does not hold true for males. This could be because women’s interest must be 

stronger to induce them to participate in a career which is not gender role congruent. 

The pattern of correlations between P-TO and P-T careers is not consistent across 

the three samples suggesting that while PTO may be constant, the role PTO plays in 

vocational choice is probably mediated by other factors specific to the cultural 

climates. 

5. Conclusion 

The data revealed that Person-Thing Orientation is a significant predictor of major 

career choice in all three samples, though it suggests that this influence on career 

choice is mediated by other factors. This leads us to believe that person-thing 

orientation is an important dimension contributing to the interest in STEM majors and 

careers. An understanding of the nature and development of interest along these 

dimensions may be extremely beneficial as the engineering education community 

aims to address the underrepresentation of certain groups. 

Further research in this area could focus on examining the mediating factors affecting 

the link between PTO and career choice and the link between vocational interest in 

STEM careers and the actual choice to pursue these careers. An examination of the 

interaction between interest and other factors which may contribute to vocational 

choice, e.g. socio-economic status, ability, family background, etc should also be 

carried out.


References 

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[12] Fouad, N.A., J.-I.C. Hansen, and F.A. Galicia, Cross-cultural similarity of vocational interests of professional 

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1250 - SEFI

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