Korean Educational Development Institute(KEDI)

Talent Development of Gifted Youths and Adults in Science and Technology and Comprehensive Policy Suggestions (II):

An Analysis of the Academic Status and Career Path of Science High School Students and Graduates

This research is designed to elicit comprehensive strategies for developing and nurturing the gifted youth and adults(15-45 years old) in science & technology, as the second year of a three-year research project. The purpose of this research is to trace the status of their studies and careers on the basis of basic data established as a result of the first year research on the students and graduates of 21 science high schools and Korea Science Academy of KAIST, and to find and conduct multidirectional analysis of various factors affecting natural sciences and engineering careers. The research tasks to accomplish this purpose are as follows; 1) How are the academic and career status of the gifted youths and adults in science and technology, focusing on science high school students and graduates? 2) What are the positive factors which help with careers and activities of natural sciences and engineering, and what are the negative factors which cause career dropout or avoidance? In order to answer the research tasks, literature reviews and expert discussions were conducted. Also, both questionnaire survey as a quantitative method and in-depth interview as a qualitative method were conducted on 3 groups of 'science high schools students', 'university and graduate school students', and 'the employed.' The results were used to analyze the status of their studies and careers. And on the basis of this analysis result, positive and negative factors affecting their careers in natural science and engineering were elicited and analyzed.