The shortage of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) professionals worldwide calls for research to identify social forces that can foster student career interest in this domain. In this study, we examined the underlying structure of middle school student STEM career interest and the role of their parents’ STEM-specific behaviors in explaining this interest. Students (N = 488) reported their interest in eighth grade (M_age = 14.48 years), while parental data were collected approximately 15 months earlier. Parents (N = 488) reported on their encouragement of their child’s STEM interest, provision of STEM materials for the child, and their own participation in STEM activities. Student grades in STEM school subjects were collected at the end of seventh grade. The findings suggest that in this age, students differentiate between their interest in science and engineering–technology-oriented career activities. Boys showed higher STEM interest than girls but only in the engineering–technology domain. Prior STEM school achievement predicted student science interest but not engineering–technology interest. After controlling for student gender and STEM achievement, the overall parent STEM support predicted both types of STEM interest, equally for boys and girls. However, parents reported more STEM-specific practices in case of sons than daughters. The results are discussed in the framework of the ontogeny of children’s STEM vocational interest and previous findings on the gendered socialization in STEM within the family. Implications for interventions and curricula in the STEM domain are also discussed.

世界范围内 STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）专业人员的短缺需要研究来确定可以培养学生对该领域职业兴趣的社会力量。在这项研究中，我们研究了中学生 STEM 职业兴趣的基本结构以及他们父母的 STEM 特定行为在解释这种兴趣方面的作用。学生 ( N  = 488) 报告了他们对八年级的兴趣（M_年龄 = 14.48 岁），而父母的数据是在大约 15 个月前收集的。父母 ( N = 488) 报告了他们鼓励孩子的 STEM 兴趣、为孩子提供 STEM 材料以及他们自己参与 STEM 活动的情况。STEM 学校科目的学生成绩是在七年级结束时收集的。研究结果表明，在这个时代，学生对科学和以工程技术为导向的职业活动的兴趣有所不同。男孩对 STEM 的兴趣高于女孩，但仅限于工程技术领域。之前的 STEM 学校成绩预测了学生对科学的兴趣，而不是工程技术的兴趣。在控制学生性别和 STEM 成绩后，家长 STEM 总体支持预测了两种类型的 STEM 兴趣，男孩和女孩的兴趣相同。然而，父母报告说，在儿子的情况下，STEM 特定的做法比女儿多。结果在儿童 STEM 职业兴趣的个体发育框架内进行了讨论，以及先前关于家庭内 STEM 性别社会化的发现。还讨论了对 STEM 领域的干预措施和课程的影响。