We study the interest of students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from grade 9 to 12 in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Surveys were distributed to students who chose STEM tracks and students who chose non-STEM tracks in public and private schools, as well as universities, across the country. The data collected revealed a number of reasons that make students like, or dislike, scientific majors. These reasons include the presence or absence of capable teachers and the choice of the teaching language. The results presented in the paper also focus on differences between public and private institutions, male and female students, as well as nationals and non-nationals. We also compare our findings to similar research done in the USA We show that several factors remain valid in both countries whereas others are specific to each of them.