Young people are deterred from studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by the perception that such studies are boring and by a lack of self-efficacy. One approach towards increasing engagement with STEM is through the use of robotics in education, both in formal instruction and through informal activities such as competitions. There is a consensus that such activities are 'fun” but there is almost no research on whether there is any educational advantage to robotics activities. We are investigating the extent to which participation in robotics education activities influence the attitudes of students towards STEM and their intentions concerning STEM studies in the future. The research framework and methodology is the theory of planned behavior (TPB), which claims that attitudes engender intentions, which in turn cause behavior. TPB is based upon questionnaires that are constructed based upon observations and interviews. The analysis of the answers from 106 questionnaires showed that the attitudes and the subjective norms were not as high as we expected, but the results for the subjective norms are of particular importance, because they show that students can be motivated by the respect and support they receive from their teachers and parents. The scores for the intentions predictor were very high, which implies that the students are like to choose to study STEM in the future.