STEM Media Use and Interest Development in Childhood: A Research Note

Can viewing educational videos through online streaming platforms (e.g., Netflix and YouTube) foster children’s interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)? To address this question, parents ( N  = 338) reported their 2- to 8-year-old children’s naturalistic STEM media use and STEM interests twice over a 1-month period. Children’s baseline STEM media use predicted an increase in their STEM interests over time, with a stronger relationship among older (vs. younger) children. These findings suggest that viewing STEM videos may serve as a catalyst for early STEM interest development, highlighting an important yet overlooked function of educational media use in childhood.