麻豆淫院

In this 麻豆淫院 Blog Special Issue, we critically consider ‘girls into STEM’ (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) initiatives, sharing our understanding of their purpose and showcasing a more inclusive approach to increasing girls’ participation and engagement in STEM education and careers. This Special Issue has an international flavour, bringing contributions from Sweden, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates, in addition to the UK, reflecting the universality of the questions it explores.

Progress in the recruitment and retention of women in STEM has been evident in recent reports (see for example BSA, 2020); however, it remains slow, and gender underrepresentation persists. For example, compared with men, women in the G20 countries constitute only 35 per cent of STEM graduates and 22 per cent of the STEM workforce (Beach et al., 2026; UNESCO, 2024). Metaphorically ‘the STEM pipeline’ concept in STEM education is used to show this gender disparity and promote gender equity by addressing the STEM ‘leaky pipeline’ through improved recruitment and retention of girls and women in STEM education and careers, from school through university to employment (Smith & White, 2024, 2025).

Therefore, several targeted initiatives typically aim to promote schoolgirls’ interest in STEM over the life course (Almukhambetova et al., 2023). These initiatives essentially attempt to ‘fix’ girls and women, with little to no accounting for or emphasis on the inherent causes of their non-participation. Initiatives offering various benefits to improve attainment, such as opportunities to engage in STEM-focused activities within and beyond formal STEM education, may positively influence participation.

However, they potentially complicate ideas of genuine interest among girls and women, because these initiatives don’t specifically or appropriately account for stereotypical societal ideologies, such as the intersections of gender with ethnicity, race, social class, nationality and family backgrounds. Moreover, the issue of the ‘leaky STEM pipeline’ as it stands is not logically solved by focusing on improving STEM attainment among girls and women, as girls already outperform boys in some school STEM subjects (OECD, 2025; Moran, n.d.), and in countries such as the US, the UAE and India, the gender ratio in STEM degrees is already 1 to 1 (if not female-dominated), with the exception of certain specialisms in engineering and computing science, which remain stubbornly male-dominated (GGGR, 2024). Furthermore, ‘girls into STEM’ initiatives have not correlated to a substantial increase in female graduates entering highly skilled STEM jobs (Smith & White, 2024).

This Special Issue showcases seven research-informed contributions, which centre upon the needs of girls and women in STEM from different contexts and countries:

• Ulrika Sultan (Sweden) asks whether we are fixing girls or fixing STEM, critically examining ‘girls into STEM’ initiatives and arguing that they often rest on flawed assumptions that girls lack interest, inadvertently causing gender stereotypes to be reinforced.
• Alisha Rodgers and Joanna Collingwood (England) explore in their blog post how preschool children engage through play, shaping perceptions of engineering, including who ‘belongs’ in that world, and how this needs to be woven into our design of initiatives.
• Muriel Grenon and Lindsay Deely (Ireland) in their contribution reflect on ‘girls into STEM’ initiatives in the Irish context, showcasing the ‘Cell Explorers’ programme as a case study to broaden access to science for both girls and boys, in full recognition of the intersectionality of socioeconomics, identity and access to STEM study and careers.
• Elizabeth Foley (United Kingdom) argues that ‘girls into STEM’ initiatives are insufficient without the required efforts to directly articulate strategies to counteract gender bias and exclusion in STEM workplaces, leaning on her own experiences as a female engineer.
• Saima Salehjee’s (Scotland) blog post reflects on alternative approaches to traditional ‘girls into STEM initiatives’ in the Scottish context and describes the use of storytelling and media to link to students’ everyday lives as a means of fostering joy and openness towards STEM, rather than with any particular ‘STEM career’ slant.
• Abeda Natha (United Arab Emirates) presents a case study of an initiative that provides opportunities for high school girls to learn more about using artificial intelligence (AI) and its broader community applications, in response to emerging research on AI gender bias.
• Mabel Encinas et al. (England) in the final blog post in this Special Issue describe a novel way of bringing meaning to STEM and STEAM, by connecting learning to real-world health issues, effectively supporting gender equity in opportunities for STEM participation.

The Special Issue presents different perspectives on traditional ‘girls into STEM’ initiatives, debating and critiquing the deficit assumptions which often underlie them, showcasing blog posts which consider the need to address structural inequalities that lead to a lack of gender parity in STEM education and workplaces. Drawing on both UK and international perspectives, this Special Issue calls for further research-informed approaches that are both inclusive and cognisant of the intersectionality affecting girls’ and women’s participation in STEM. It urges key stakeholders, including policymakers, educators and practitioners, to build planning into initiatives that promote STEM as accessible and meaningful to ‘all learners’, rather than focusing narrowly on increasing girls’ participation and attainment in STEM.

References

Almukhambetova, A., Torrano, D. H., & Nam, A. (2023). Fixing the leaky pipeline for talented women in STEM. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 21(1), 305–324.

Boyle, N., McGettrick, R., & O’Sullivan, K. (2024). ‘I just want to annoy him now and say, look, I can do STEM too!’: A qualitative investigation into the attitudes and engagement of female students in STEM education in Ireland. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 29(1).  

British Science Association [BSA]. (2020). The state of the sector: Diversity and representation in STEM industries in the UK. APPG on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM.

Charlesworth, T. E., & Banaji, M. R. (2019). Gender in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics: Issues, causes, solutions. Journal of Neuroscience, 39(37), 7228–7243.

Moran, R. (n.d.). Girls outperform boys from primary school to university. Cambridge University Press & Assessment.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD]. (2023). PISA 2022 results (Volume I and II).

Pal, K. K., Piaget, K., Zahidi, S., & Baller, S. (2024). Global Gender Gap Report 2024. World Economic Forum.

Smith, E., & White, P. (2024). Science for all? School science education policy and STEM skills shortages. British Journal of Educational Studies, 72(4), 397–424. .

Smith, E., & White, P. (2025). Gender, participation and attainment in STEM: A comprehensive overview of long‐term trends in the United Kingdom. British Educational Research Journal, 51(2), 802–825. .

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO]. (2024). Changing the equation: Securing STEM futures for women.