Nerd-genius stereotypes about people in the physical sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (pSTEM) are barriers to getting many adolescent girls interested in pSTEM. Endorsing these stereotypes may undermine youths' pSTEM identity especially when they are incongruent with their self-concepts--possibly more likely for girls than boys.…

It is often assumed that highlighting the contributions of female researchers to STEM fields may make those fields more attractive to women, thereby encouraging female participation. The present study (n = 802) aimed to test that assumption by investigating the impact of messages highlighting the contributions of women researchers to two STEM…

Social influence from society holds the key to social norms that influence students and their future aspirations. Gender bias is considered one of the influencing factors that affects the decisions of female high school students on participating in STEM education. This descriptive study describes the key factors that STEM educators perceived as…

The visibility of female role models in science is vital for engaging and retaining women in scientific fields. In this study, we analyse four senior secondary science courses delivered across the states and territories in Australia: Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, and Physics. We compared male and female representation within the…

Background: Scholarship demonstrates that Black girls' capacities to imagine possible futures in computing are constrained by narratives of white masculinity and misogynoir embedded within computing. Building on race critical code studies and identity-as-narrative theories, we examine "restorying" through Black womanist storytelling…

Based on social cognitive career theory (SCCT) this study explored the barriers to females choosing STEM disciplines at post-primary level. The study firstly explored national data from all secondary schools in Ireland, to compare subject uptake at the leaving certificate cycle and discipline uptake at third level. Secondly, a focus group was…

This study aimed to determine the gender lens of Senior High School educators and learners in General Biology, particularly on The Cell's content standards. The content standards that exhibited most biases were identified. The Gender Lens Instrument in Biology, a validated and reliability-tested tool (Cronbach's [alpha] = 0.81) was used to…

This research revealed how the implementation of STEM Project-Based Learning (STEM PBL) in chemistry teaching on colloid system topics with heterogeneous groups of students in terms of habits, hobbies, goals, and gender-biased perceptions. Also, the research described students' attitudes towards STEM PBL, and the linkages between their attitude…

Men significantly outnumber women in physics, engineering, and computer science (PECS) majors, with a recent male-to-female ratio of approximately 4:1, a stark contrast to the near parity in other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines (1). This gender disparity in PECS carries wide-reaching implications for equity,…

This study examines female graduates (N = 616) from seven honors colleges in the Northeastern United States and the relationship between attending a New York City (NYC) selective specialized public high school and graduating with a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree from an honors college. A causal-comparative study…

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceived sense of comfort and belonging of girl participants, aged 15-16, engaged within a school-based offering of the Marine Education Advanced Education (MATE) underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) program (MATE-ROV). MATE-ROV is a competition-based educational robotics (ER) program that can…

The perceptions of students interested in STEM, particularly those too often excluded due to race and/or gender, are necessary to create educational experiences that additively contribute to students' access and inclusion in STEM. The purpose of this inquiry was to understand the perceptions of 34 high-school students about race and gender…

The research apprenticeship is a situated form of learning that can be effective in connecting learners to science. It is commonly assumed that this pathway is characterised by power transitions from those positioned as experts to those positioned as novices, yet power and positionality during a research apprenticeship have rarely been explicitly…

Background: Scholars have analyzed the possibilities that robotics-centered learning programs offer, including opportunities for developing collaboratively and engaging in authentic STEM professional practice. This work adds a sociopolitical perspective, explicating a case of a newcomer to a robotics team that elucidates the nuances of…

A gender gap currently exists in college STEM majors, with a lower percentage of females entering math intensive fields. One possible explanation is the advice students receive in high school. We conduct a survey of high school guidance counselors, soliciting their advice regarding hypothetical high school students' college and major choices. We…