A Conceptual Framework for Fostering Gender Equity in Early Years STEM Education

Anderson J., English L., Highfield K., O’Keeffe L.

STEM (science, mathematics, engineering, technology) education has become more prominent in schools since its promotion over the past ten years. While previously fraught with a lack of clarity of vision, the publication of the national strategy (National Council, 2015) in Australia provided some guidance and advice to schools about the goals and actions required to address engagement, achievement and participation. However, case studies of STEM education in schools still reveal a diversity of approaches and potential outcomes, which has meant reporting on successful outcomes is challenging. In addition, limited research to evaluate the efficacy of these approaches, and the contribution of mathematics to an integrated STEM agenda, has added to the challenge. Anderson et al. (Research in mathematics education in Australasia, 2015–2019. Springer, 2020) identified four key issues warranting further attention—evidence on how integrated STEM curriculum supports students’ learning in mathematics, particularly in secondary school contexts; whether mathematics is incidental or foundational in STEM education; how mathematics supports the development of the other STEM subjects; and curriculum reforms to guide teachers’ work. Our chapter investigates whether recent Australasian STEM publications have addressed these issues related to STEM and mathematics education and identifies potential new questions and avenues for future integrated STEM education research.

Kim K., Lee K., Kwon O.N.

In this chapter, a systematic literature review of the empirical studies on STEAM education in Korea is carried out to illustrate the Korean perspective on implementing STEAM education in Korea. STEAM education in Korea was introduced as an educational policy in 2011. It is possible to discuss the future direction of STEAM education in Korea and provide the basic data for an international comparison study of STEAM education through this systematic literature review. The systematic literature review based on the 186 domestic empirical studies focused on the appearance over time, school levels, research methods, participants, sample sizes, and levels of integration. First, the number of STEAM education research in Korea is affected by the introduction of the educational policy of STEAM education. Empirical studies are concentrated at the K-9 level. Additionally, these studies use quantitative research methods and mainly target students with relatively small sample sizes ranging from 1 to 50. Second, research on teaching and learning in STEAM education and participants’ perceptions takes multidisciplinary approaches rather than interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches. The results of this chapter can be applied to designing future STEAM education research and the teaching and learning of STEAM education.

Playton S.C., Childers G.M., Hite R.L.

States and school districts in the USA have begun to create and implement curriculum to promote elementary students’ nascent STEM-related interests and to generate their initial knowledge of careers in those fields. Evaluating the efficacy of such interventions warrants valid and reliable tools, which are not presently available for middle childhood (ages 6–11) aged students in lower elementary school (approximately grades 2 to 4). This research study describes the creation and validation of the STEM Future-Career Interest Survey (STEM Future-CIS), a survey informed by extant inventories (i.e., Student Attitudes toward Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Survey and STEM Career Interest Survey) and grounded in the constructs of interest, self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and personal goals (i.e., social cognitive career theory or SCCT) to better understand the knowledge and interest in S-T-E-M fields for grades 2–4. From two rounds of student and teacher interviews and pilots punctuated by periods of expert review, 804 students (grades 2–4 in the southeastern U.S.) participated in the STEM Future-CIS. By employing exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses among four models, results affirmed SCCT constructs as a model for how middle childhood aged students conceive their interest to engage in future career considerations in 25 items and four validated factors of math/science interest, engineering interest, technology interest, and future self. Sampled students were able to report technology and engineering interests; however, they experienced difficulty in differentiating math and science subject areas and the related future career opportunities in engineering and technology.

Larkin K., Lowrie T.

AbstractIn the last 5 years, there have been several literature reviews or meta-analyses investigating various aspects of STEM education; however, they have investigated a specific aspect of STEM, e.g. robotics, or digital games, or Early childhood, or Teacher perspectives. In addition, a broad-reaching review on STEM integration has not been conducted in the past 10 years. This article reports findings from a Systematic Qualitative Literature Review concerning STEM education for children aged 4–12 in formal education contexts. To provide context, the article initially presents descriptive findings (date and country of research, age of participants, research setting, and research methodologies used) in the 60 research articles that are included for analysis. The article then answers three research questions regarding the: (1) level of integration evident in the studies; (2) role of engineering in any such integration; and (3) teaching approaches used in the studies. Findings from this research suggest that there is still much work to be done to move from scenarios where STEM integration is claimed but is not evident in practice. To do so we encourage educators and researchers to (a) focus on authentic interdisciplinary approaches rather than the siloed approaches evident in the existing research; and (b) use a teaching approach such as problem-based or project-based learning that provide opportunities for authentic integration.

Wright G.W., Delgado C.

Conlon R.A., Barroso C., Ganley C.M.

Larkin K., Lowrie T.

Chan R.C.

The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields is well documented in developed countries, and yet public discussion of gender disparities in STEM in China is still in its nascent stage. Endorsement of traditional gender role beliefs and conformity to social norms are pertinent to Chinese culture, which may even exacerbate the gender disparities in STEM engagement. Grounded in social cognitive career theory, the present study drew on a national sample of secondary school students (N = 3020) in China to estimate gender disparities in self-efficacy, interest, and aspirations in STEM and examine how cultural and gender norms influence STEM engagement. The proposed sequential mediation model was supported, in which girls were more likely to show lower levels of self-efficacy than boys; this was associated with lower interest in STEM and lower motivation to pursue STEM careers. The results also supported the moderating effect of traditional gender role beliefs and found that gender differences in self-efficacy, interest, and aspirations in STEM were more apparent among students who strongly endorsed stereotypical views of male and female roles. The findings provide important implications for efforts to improve girls’ access to STEM education through curriculum enrichment and out-of-school time programs to bridge the gender gap in STEM. Access to female role models and gender-responsive pedagogy is also essential to boost girls’ self-efficacy in STEM and eradicate traditional gender role beliefs among all students.

Su J., Yang W., Zhong Y.

Gilligan T., McNally S., Lovett J., Farell T., Kumar S., McLoughlin E., Corriveau K.

Campbell C., Hobbs L., Xu L., McKinnon J., Speldewinde C.

Raising girls’ aspirations for STEM careers is one way to address Sustainability Development Goal 4 (SDG4)—quality education—which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Various strategies have been suggested in STEM education research literature to achieve this. One such initiative begins with exposing girls to STEM industries during their formative school years. While a range of industry-school partnerships exist, examples of successful models that might inform practice are scarce. This article describes an investigation into how industry professionals, university educators, teachers, and students successfully implemented a STEM education experience (Girls as Leaders in STEM (GALS)). Formative and summative evaluation processes were used to generate data through a co-design research approach to describe and measure changes in student practices, attitudes, and engagement in relation to STEM and leadership as a result of connecting to industry problems. This research focused on the analysis of teacher and student interview data generated upon the completion of the program, which provided feedback on the different aspects of the process and, in particular, the role of industry in relation to the girls’ attitudes. This research highlights the benefits of industry involvement with girls in terms of their engagement with STEM, the authenticity of STEM learning, and the novelty of the learning experience. These benefits are discussed with respect to how they can raise girls’ STEM aspirations and ensure equitable educational opportunities—aligning with SDG4.

Roehrig G.H., Dare E.A., Ellis J.A., Ring-Whalen E.

Given the large variation in conceptualizations and enactment of K− 12 integrated STEM, this paper puts forth a detailed conceptual framework for K− 12 integrated STEM education that can be used by researchers, educators, and curriculum developers as a common vision. Our framework builds upon the extant integrated STEM literature to describe seven central characteristics of integrated STEM: (a) centrality of engineering design, (b) driven by authentic problems, (c) context integration, (d) content integration, (e) STEM practices, (f) twenty-first century skills, and (g) informing students about STEM careers. Our integrated STEM framework is intended to provide more specific guidance to educators and support integrated STEM research, which has been impeded by the lack of a deep conceptualization of the characteristics of integrated STEM. The lack of a detailed integrated STEM framework thus far has prevented the field from systematically collecting data in classrooms to understand the nature and quality of integrated STEM instruction; this delays research related to the impact on student outcomes, including academic achievement and affect. With the framework presented here, we lay the groundwork for researchers to explore the impact of specific aspects of integrated STEM or the overall quality of integrated STEM instruction on student outcomes.

Speldewinde C., Campbell C.

Stretch E.J., Roehrig G.H.

The sentiment that creativity is the most important skill needed to solve the problems that we face is repeated by different business and industry leaders around the world). Since January 2020, the call for creativity has been amplified in response to the problems and obstacles caused by COVID19. Yet, creativity remains the most neglected 21st century skill addressed in STEM education. This paper develops the strong conceptual connections between creativity and failure within STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) to propose the Intersection of Failure and Creativity Framework (IFCF). The IFCF represents an improved way to engage students in integrated STEM activities that call for the development of solutions to real world problems by engaging in engineering design. The IFCF will better prepare teachers and students to address the changes and uncertainty of a rapidly-evolving world and address the calls of businesses for a workforce capable of innovation.

Stephenson T., Fleer M., Fragkiadaki G., Rai P.

Teachers’ pedagogical practices have been consistently highlighted either as a support, or as a barrier, to girls’ science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) engagement. Research suggests that teachers can display forms of gender bias during STEM experiences, such as unintentionally favouring boys in STEM participation. Investigation into early childhood and primary STEM education highlights teacher professional development as a priority, with a key focus on the awareness of gender issues. This study explores whether and how the STEM practices of early childhood teachers change and develop towards supporting girls’ STEM engagement through Conceptual PlayWorlds as a model of practice. Through an educational experiment, the study design involved professional development workshops introducing teachers to the Conceptual PlayWorld model for the intentional teaching of STEM, with ideas on how to engage girls through the five characteristics of a Conceptual PlayWorld. Interview responses of seven teachers and one assistant principal regarding their experience of teaching STEM through Conceptual PlayWorlds are analysed in line with the cultural-historical approach. Findings highlight the teachers’ developing consciousness regarding girls’ STEM engagement through participation in the professional development workshops and Conceptual PlayWorlds, creating a shift in their teaching practices towards becoming more agentic in actively engaging girls with STEM. It is argued that while increasing teachers’ consciousness informed and transformed their STEM practices, leading to teacher development, further relevant and meaningful professional development opportunities are required to support early childhood teachers in positioning STEM as a truly welcoming and inclusive space for girls.