STEM education for girls: The path to equity

The National Science Foundation has predicted that 80 per cent of jobs will require Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) skills in the coming decade. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has dawned upon us, ushering in an era of technology, innovation, and digital transformation. In this rapidly evolving landscape, proficiency in STEM has become a necessity. 

However, a significant gender disparity persists in India's STEM education ecosystem, hampering the full realisation of its potential. Alarming statistics reveal that globally, 1 in 4 girls aged 15–19 belongs to the Neither in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET) category. This figure rises to 1 in 2 in India (PLFS 2020). The bottlenecks that impede the uptake of STEM education and careers for girls can manifest at three levels – personal, institutional/structural, and social. 

Research reveals that girls initially display interest in STEM during their formative years, typically between the ages of 8 and 10. However, during adolescence, self-esteem concerning their competence in these subjects takes a sharp hit, leading to a decline in enthusiasm. Additionally, stereotypes around gender and STEM further the belief that only boys excel in mathematics and science while girls are inclined toward other fields. These stereotypes manifest early in life and influence young girls' choices during adolescence.

As per the report by Sattva Knowledge Institute, girls face various challenges at different life stages. Apart from institutional bottlenecks of access, affordability, and infrastructural challenges, several factors related to classroom practices impact girls' confidence to choose STEM education.

Advancing gender equality

One such hurdle is parents' and teachers' limited exposure and awareness regarding gender-sensitive approaches to STEM education. Along with the absence of innovative gender-sensitive pedagogy, the lack of female teachers and role models also deters STEM uptake. The absence of effective teaching methodologies to inculcate scientific curiosity among students results in students’ inability to build subject proficiency. This and low self-esteem hinder girls’ inclination towards STEM subjects.

Although the situation looks grim, there are several reasons to be optimistic about the future of gender equality in STEM education. In the past decade, several measures carried out by philanthropists and the government in partnership with NGOs have shown hope for scaling up successful pilot interventions. Some of them are listed here:

Atal Tinkering Labs: This Indian government's initiative to foster scientific temper and entrepreneurial mindsets, with its presence in 10,000 schools, has reached approximately 7.5 million middle and high school students.

Tejaswini Project: This World Bank project contributes to improving girls’ enrollment in STEM and graduation rates in secondary and higher secondary schools.

Vigyan Mitra: This project by Pratham Foundation exposes rural students to the world of science by training a few senior students in the village as ambassadors of STEM who become role models for primary and middle school students.

Mobile Science Labs: Driven by CARE India and Agastya Foundation, this initiative helps overcome the lack of labs in rural schools. To enhance accessibility to learning resources, these mobile science labs, equipped with science models and experiments, traverse long distances to reach students in under-resourced schools.

Gender-sensitive pedagogy: Aavishkaar Center for Science, Math, Arts, and Technology empowers teachers to practice gender-sensitive pedagogy to make learning science and maths fun and experiential –  thus addressing institutional-level bottlenecks.

Some interventions initiated towards building life skills, especially self-esteem, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, have been fruitful in igniting girls' interest in STEM courses.

STEM for Girls programme: Launched by IBM and Quest Alliance, this focuses on building a STEM mindset, which includes both the subject knowledge as well as building crucial attitudes, values and core skills of gender education and building agency to enhance their ability to negotiate gender norms and motivate them to seek more inclusive solutions to problems at hand. Engaging with parents and exposure to role models is also critical to the programme.

Plan it Girls intervention: The International Center for Research on Women aims to shift girls' self-perception of gender attitudes by collaborating with key institutions like schools and stakeholders like teachers and parents, thus tackling the societal bottlenecks.

Fully funded residential programme: This programme by Navgurukul helps students from marginalised communities (especially girls) by building life skills, developing subject proficiency, and providing job opportunities. 

As young girls remain missing data points in the journey from STEM education to STEM professions due to structural, social, and personal barriers, an intersectional and inclusive approach must be embedded in solutions for enabling their enrollment in STEM and retention in higher education, leading to gainful STEM careers.

(The writer is an Engagement Manager of a knowledge platform at an impact consulting firm)