Gender-Inclusive Education and Teaching in STEM: Strategies, Challenges, and Contradictions

Dear Colleagues,

Gender equality in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) and the full participation of women and girls in STEM occupations and fields of study remains a big issue. Gender segregation is pronounced in education and the labour market, across sectors and occupations, and has persisted quite consistently in recent years. Women are underrepresented in STEM careers, with the gender gap being especially pronounced in the ICT sector. In 2023, just 19.4% of ICT specialists in the EU27 were female, although with some significant variations by country. Gender gaps in STEM careers also apply to teaching, with data showing that, in 2018, 31% of upper-secondary-school male teachers were teaching STEM subjects compared to 25% of female teachers (OECD, 2021). Gendered career preferences are apparent from early in life. Data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 show significant gender differences in career expectations between 15-year-old adolescents. Even when boys and girls show similar performance, fewer girls report that they want to pursue a STEM career compared to boys (OECD, 2019). These preferences also apply to top-performing students in mathematics and/or science, which are critical disciplines for successful STEM paths.

Both comparative data and the scientific literature have demonstrated that gender disparities in school and career options and achievements appear to be neither innate nor inevitable (Thébaud and Charles, 2018; Schmader, 2023; UNESCO, 2024). They seem, rather, to emerge and be reinforced by social and cultural contexts. A dynamic interplay between individual-level traits and the broader sociocultural environments in which they develop explains the exclusion of girls and women from STEM education and professions (Thébaud and Charles, 2018).

The role of both formal and non-formal education is crucial in perpetuating gender inequalities and leading to segregated career choices. International regulations support and strengthen recommendations for gender-inclusive education, such as those found in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform, or recent European programs and strategies. These recommendations are often praised but not fully implemented. It is therefore important to examine the contradictions and paradoxes between European/international norms promoting gender-sensitive STEM education and how the situation stands in reality. For example, interventions and projects funded within the European framework for promoting STEM education remain completely gender-blind. This contradiction is particularly noteworthy considering the increasing emphasis on inclusive and diversity-orientated educational models, as evidenced in the literature. At the European level, for instance, the recent Issue Paper on Gender Equality In and Through Education indicates that almost all initiatives to address non-traditional career pathways have an ad hoc nature and are not sustainable or structural (EC, 2023).

In this Special Issue of the journal Social Sciences, we aim to publish studies that examine the persisting challenges, deadlocks, and contradictions related to combatting the gender gap and segregation in STEM education, particularly in ICT and emerging areas such as AI. We seek research that delves into the existing knowledge regarding factors contributing to the gender gap, interventions designed to address it, the stakeholders involved, and their networks and alliances, as well as public policies (Monteiro and Lopes, 2022). We are interested in studies exploring the influence of education, education systems, schools and their gender regimes, STEM, and equality pedagogies, as well as the challenges affecting teachers' performance and training. Additionally, we invite studies on pedagogical methods and tools for integrating a gender perspective into STEM education. Additionally, given the increasing level of obstacles and resistance from anti-gender movements, we also seeking studies that explore this resistance in different contexts and countries, as well as its key figures and manifestations.

Authors are invited to submit original research articles, meta-analyses, reviews, or case studies based on findings observed or analysed in empirical studies with diverse methodologies, focusing on topics addressing the backlash in this field, the challenges facing those who conduct research in this area, and the new thematic agendas, among other issues.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

References

• Schmader, Toni. 2023. Gender inclusion and fit in STEM. Annual Review of Psychology 74, 219-43. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-032720-043052.
• European Commission, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. 2023. Issue paper on gender equality in and through education – Working Group on Equality and Values in Education and Training [Barry Driel, Vicki Donlevy, and Maria Melstveit Roseme (Eds.)]. Publications Office of the European Union.  https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2766/915001.
• Monteiro, Rosa and Monica Lopes. 2022. Closing the digital gender gap in Portugal: feminist challenges and achievements. In: Algoritmos, teletrabajo y otros grandes temas del feminismo digital. 173-93. Dykinson. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/367364796_Closing_the_gender_digital_gap_in_Portugal_feminist_challenges_and_achievements.
• OECD. 2021. Teachers Getting the Best out of Their Students: From Primary to Upper Secondary Education, TALIS, OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/5bc5cd4e-en (accessed on 10 June 2024).
• OECD. 2019. PISA 2018 Results (Volume II): Where All Students Can Succeed. PISA, OECD Publishing. https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/b5fd1b8f-en (accessed on 10 June 2024).
• Thébaud, Sarah and Maria Charles. 2018. Segregation, Stereotypes, and STEM. Social Sciences 7: 111. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7070111.
• UNESCO. 2024. Global Education Monitoring Report: Gender report – Technology on her terms. https://doi.org/10.54676/WVCF2762 (accessed on 10 June 2024).

Dr. Rosa Monteiro
Dr. Lina Coelho
Guest Editors

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• gender
• gender segregation
• occupational segregation
• gender inequalities in education and the labour market
• gender regimes in organizations
• gender stereotypes
• gender bias
• STEM
• gender gap in STEM
• career choices
• STEM education
• girls and women in ICT
• girls and women in STEM
• gender inequality and AI
• AI and education
• equality policies in education
• gender mainstreaming in education
• equality policies in STEM education from a gender perspective
• equality policies in STEM and AI
• STEM and equality pedagogies
• teachers' gender stereotypes
• gender-sensitive pedagogies in STEM
• gender pedagogies
• resistance and opposition to gender equality policies in STEM education
• resistance and opposition to gender pedagogies and perspectives in education
• challenges and strategies for teacher training
• whole-school approach to gender-sensitive STEM education
• digital transition and gender gap in STEM occupations and fields of studies
• feminism, technofeminism, and women’s movements in STEM education