Confirming the legitimacy of female participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM): evaluation of a UK STEM initiative for girls

Abstract

This paper offers a study of a Saturday science-activity club for young secondary school aged girls, in Cardiff, UK. It provides a critical analysis of interactions between group participants and their mentors in building an equitable and experiential learning zone for the promotion of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as subject and occupational choices. This study explores how science outreach programmes for young women represent a form of gender re-education, reconfiguring and redefining gender identities in science. We consider how an informal, experiential learning programme scaffolds female learners in discovering the confidence to negotiate multiple iterations of STEM, and in developing an ability to celebrate gender difference and the multiple roles of women to science.

Keywords:

• science
• technology
• engineering and mathematics interventions
• gendered inequality
• experiential/hands-on/object-based learning
• learner efficacy
• role-models
• engagement

Notes

1. The GCSE or General Certificate of Secondary Education is an academic qualification in a number of subjects, taken by students usually aged 14–16 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.