Washington: Parental influence and access to Mathematics courses are crucial to their children's pursuit of careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics or Medicine (STEMM), according to new research.

Jon Miller, Michigan State University (MSU) professor of integrative studies who led the study with colleagues, said the education of more researchers, engineers and others in the field of Science is critical.

"Failure to build and maintain a competitive scientific workforce in the decades ahead will inevitably lead to a decline in the American standard of living," Miller said.

The research also found that sons were slightly more encouraged than daughters to do well in Science and Mathematics.

Miller used data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, which kept track of nearly 6,000 students from middle school through college, attempting to determine what led them to or guided them away from STEMM careers.

"The pathway to a STEMM career begins at home." He said this is especially true in families in which children were strongly encouraged to go to college.

"Only four percent of students who experienced low parent encouragement to attend college planned to enter a post-secondary programme and major in a STEMM field," he said.

"This compares to 41 percent of students whose parents strongly encouraged college attendance."

Also influential, although not on the same level as parental encouragement, is the parents' education level.

The research found that approximately 27 percent of the children of college graduates planned to major in a STEMM field, compared to 18 percent of parents with a high school diploma.

The research also reinforced the role mathematics plays in the pursuit of a STEMM career, says an MSU release.

"Mathematics is a primary gateway to a STEMM career," Miller said, "beginning with algebra track placement in grades seven and eight, and continuing through high school and college calculus courses."

These findings were presented at a symposium titled "Tomorrow's Scientists and Engineers" at this year's meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. IANS