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Abstract
In many western countries attention is currently being given to the participation of students in tertiary Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. This is a result of internationally competing economic ambitions, coupled with acute shortages on the STEM labour market, a declining interest among students for STEM education and a long‐lasting under‐representation of women. However, despite similarities concerning policy attitudes and identified problems, western countries differ considerably from each other concerning the percentages of students that choose STEM education and the proportion of female students included here. Based on an in‐depth study in Sweden, the UK, the US and the Netherlands, this article investigates the reasons for these cross‐national differences. At the heart of the explanations lie the accessibility of the STEM pipeline, the level of broad‐based interdisciplinary studies as opposed to compartmentalization and early specialization, labour market characteristics, social traditions and government policies.
Notes
1. Unlike the European Commission (2004), for instance, we have excluded life sciences from the STEM courses and biology from the maths and science subjects because problems on the job market and women being under‐represented occur less in these courses and subjects.
2. The six respondents interviewed were working in London or Oxford. It was not always clear if the explanations they put forward applied to the UK in general or England in particular. Also, the school system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is somewhat different from that in Scotland.
3. The researchers wish to thank all the respondents for their co‐operation and time to take part in this study and for their great efforts to explain the situation in their country.