Exploring Pre-Service STEM Teachers’ Capacity to Teach Using a Gender-Responsive Approach

Abstract

Teachers’ perceived efficacy of their ability to teach using a gender approach is key for future generations to become more gender-sensitive and respectful towards gender inequities. However, little is known about graduate training for gender-responsive STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teaching. In this study, after exploring the measurement invariance across countries (Greece and Spain) and sexes (male and female) of the TEGEP (Teacher Self-Efficacy for Gender Equality Practice) scale, a total of 222 prospective secondary school STEM teachers (136 Greek, 86 Spanish) from seven public universities were surveyed. Results showed that (1) the TEGEP has acceptable measurement invariance across countries and among sexes allowing comparison between groups and (2) that Greek and Spanish STEM students finish their master studies without sufficient confidence in gender knowledge, skills, and attitudes to practice a gender-sensitive teaching. The ability to teach gender knowledge was significantly higher in Greek than in Spanish students (4.52 vs. 4.03), while the latter felt more competent than the Greek students in conveying values/attitudes in regard to gender (4.54 vs. 4.83). The study calls for reflection, and considering that gender mainstreaming in STEM is anecdotal and not aligned with existing curricula, seeks to raise awareness and institutional compromise in implementing a gender-responsive approach in STEM. The TEGEP could be utilized to assess and monitor the gender competencies required of graduates in order to provide a more equitable and gender-sensitive STEM education in Greece and Spain.

Engineering education challenges and strengths: reflecting on key-stakeholder's perspectives

“…According to Videla et al (2021), the design of "STEM/STEAM educational environments is based on interdisciplinary practice that favors enactive and ecological learning, as well as didactic co-design" (p. 5). The idea behind STEM is to connect the sciences with methods that encourage creativity and innovation (STEAM approach) to promote learning in more connected and holistic ways (Henze et al, 2022;Meletiou-Mavrotheris et al, 2022;Niu and Cheng, 2022;Miralles-Cardona et al, 2023;Sun et al, 2023).…”

“…With the aim of promoting curriculum integration between science, technology, engineering, maths and the arts, encouraging deep and collaborative learning for students, the United States National Research Council proposed, in 2012, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) as a new form of teaching (Videla et al, 2021;Sun et al, 2023). STEAM seems to offer new ways of teaching and learning in the arts and STEM fields, with emancipatory pedagogical approaches, involving the application of mathematics, science, engineering and other subject areas such as social sciences, humanities and the arts to solve real-world problems (Kauffmann et al, 2010;Mejias et al, 2021;Burleson et al, 2023;Miralles-Cardona et al, 2023).…”