The STEM Career Interest Test (Form JR) consists of five subscales corresponding to the STEM acronym, namely Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics; separate scales exist for measuring interests in the Life and Physical Sciences. Our Internet edition presents the items in random order for each administration. Participants rate a total of 55 items (10 to 12 per subscale) in a 5-point Likert format.

These five subscales were selected from an array of 31 career interest scales developed by Jim Rounds and his colleagues; use of the term "Form JR" credits his original work, and distinguishes this test from others under construction. Scale reliabilities from an N of 545 are all very high ranging from .91 to .95. Other psychometric properties are reported here.

This guest edition does not save the data for subsequent recall by individual test-takers. Respondents should print a copy of their results.

Use and interpretation of the subscale scores. The STEM Career Interest Test (Form JR) online below has excellent psychometric properties and is ideal for evaluating the pre-post effects of STEM programs directed at fostering interest and persistence in STEM studies and careers.

We need to be quite circumspect, however, in using it for diagnosis and/or career counseling, as the norms to be inferred from the psychometric properties reported so far are not differentiated by age levels nor broken down by gender. Using currently available mean and standard deviation information, scores above 3.0 would have to be considered well above average for career interests in Engineering and in the Life and Physical Sciences. So would scores of 3.4 or more in Technology and Math. Those cutoffs are likely too high for providing feedback to younger students and/or woman and minority respondents who would be expected to have less experience with the specific activities reflected in the contents of the items. We will be gathering additional normative data over time and will make this information available here as the numbers of test takers accumulate.

• Begin the STEM Career Interest Test (Form JR) as a guest
• Visit Jim Rounds' website on item pool and scale development