Searching for Pedagogical Answers to Support STEM Learning: Gender Perspective

Abstract

This article analyzes the results of a study on the situation concerning the educational achievements of girls and boys in the STEM field in Latvia. The study was conducted at the compulsory education level to understand the conditions in the learning environment that can predictably affect the academic achievements of girls. For the purposes of the study, a survey questionnaire was developed, which was filled out by 1847 students from the 7th–12th grades. The obtained results show which factors affect learning achievement in STEM subjects for students with low and high learning achievements in groups divided into boys and girls and which pedagogical activities can predictably improve STEM learning achievements. The research data confirm that there are differences in predicted learning achievements in groups of boys and girls with high learning achievements, depending on the pedagogical strategy used. Additionally, the results of the study confirm that the most significant factor for a predictable increase in learning achievements in the STEM field is students liking mathematics and, in the case of high learning achievements, them liking chemistry. An indicator that has a significant negative impact on academic achievement in STEM subjects is a dislike of physics, which appeared in the group of girls with low academic achievements. Liking other STEM subjects to improve student achievement did not appear statistically significant in any of the analyzed groups. This study is essential to supplement the knowledge base on gender differences in learning achievements in STEM subjects and is also important for the educational space of Latvia because the learning achievements of girls in the STEM field are lower in this country than it is for boys. The obtained results show which methods of pedagogical work have a higher impact on increasing the predicted learning achievements and also show potential future research directions.

A Systematic Review of Research on Gender Diversity in STEM Education

“…There is also a need for the identification of policies and strategies that will promote gender equality in the STEM fields (Benavent et al, 2020;García-Holgado et al, 2020;Gweshe & Chiware, 2023;Reinking & Martin, 2018;Rushton & King, 2020) as well as research to determine the levels of awareness, interest, confidence, motivation, engagement, advantages, and problems that women face when working in STEM disciplines (Chiang et al, 2023;Kans & Claesson, 2022), (Jiang et al, 2020;Kelly et al, 2019). Additionally there is a recognition that gender is one of the elements that influence the outcomes of STEM learning (Anaya et al, 2022;Wang et al, 2023), as well as investigation of the influence of external factors, such as family and environment, on gender equality in STEM education (Daniela et al, 2022).…”

Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2023

“…The number of men who choose to study STEM subjects is more than twice as high as the number of women. In 2022, a survey questionnaire for grade 7 to 12 pupils was developed to determine conditions in the learning environment that can predictably affect the academic achievements of girls in Latvia (Daniela et al, 2022).…”

Gender Differences in Mathematical Competition Performance for Grade 4 Pupils in Latvia

“…The number of men who choose to study STEM subjects is more than twice as high as the number of women. In 2022, a survey questionnaire for grade 7 to 12 pupils was developed to determine conditions in the learning environment that can predictably affect the academic achievements of girls in Latvia (Daniela et al, 2022).…”