Gender Dimension in Research and Curriculum: 12 SSH and STEM test institutions (original) (raw)

Introducing and Evaluating the Effective Inclusion of Gender Dimension in STEM Higher Education

Sustainability

The need to incorporate the gender dimension in higher education is a central element of gender equality policies within the European Union (EU). When most institutions of higher education have already strengthened and consolidated their curricula, the next challenge is to include and ensure that all people have the same opportunities to progress in education. This study intends to incorporate the gender dimension in teaching through a guide providing recommendations for the introduction of changes that will allow its effective incorporation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) areas. It will take into account the administration in charge of formulating policies in the field of education, the students, and, mainly, the teaching staff. Its objective is to cover aspects related to the principles of equal opportunities and gender equality in STEM higher education disciplines. For this purpose, 41 volunteer teachers from 8 degrees and master’s degrees from the Univ...

Gendered education in a gendered world: looking beyond cosmetic solutions to the gender gap in science

Cultural Studies of Science Education, 2012

Young people in countries considered to be at the forefront of gender equity still tend to choose very traditional science subjects and careers. This is particularly the case in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects (STEM), which are largely male dominated. This article uses feminist critiques of science and science education to explore the underlying gendered assumptions of a research project aiming to contribute to improving recruitment, retention and gender equity patterns in STEM educations and careers. Much research has been carried out to understand this gender gap phenomenon as well as to suggest measures to reduce its occurrence. A significant portion of this research has focused on detecting the typical ''female'' and ''male'' interest in science and has consequently suggested that adjustments be made to science education to cater for these interests. This article argues that adjusting science subjects to match perceived typical girls' and boys' interests risks being ineffective, as it contributes to the imposition of stereotyped gender identity formation thereby also imposing the gender differences that these adjustments were intended to overcome. This article also argues that different ways of addressing gender issues in science education themselves reflects different notions of gender and science. Thus in order to reduce gender inequities in science these implicit notions of gender and science have to be made explicit. The article begins with an overview of the current situation regarding gender equity in some so-called gender equal countries. We then present three perspectives from feminist critiques of science on how gender can be seen to impact on science and science education. Thereafter we analyze recommendations from a contemporary research project to explore which of these perspectives is most prevalent.

Research trends in gender differences in higher education and science: a co-word analysis

Scientometrics, 2014

The aim of this study is to map and analyze the structure and evolution of the scientific literature on gender differences in higher education and science, focusing on factors related to differences between 1991 and 2012. Co-word analysis was applied to identify the main concepts addressed in this research field. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to cluster the keywords and a strategic diagram was created to analyze trends. The data set comprised a corpus containing 652 articles and reviews published between 1991 and 2012, extracted from the Thomson Reuters Web of Science database. In order to see how the results changed over time, documents were grouped into three different

Gender Perspective in STEM Disciplines in Spain Universities

Women in STEM in Higher Education, 2022

In this paper we present different initiatives carried out by Spanish universities for the incorporation of the gender perspective in STEM disciplines. One of these initiatives is the collection of guides of the Vives University Network for university teaching. These guides cover the sections of objectives, contents, evaluation, learning environment, organizational modalities, teaching methods, and didactic resources with the aim of making women scientists visible in the discipline and eliminating the androcentric vision that predominates in science and engineering. In particular, we analyze the fields of engineering, mathematics, and physics. With the aim of being more than just a review of different initiatives, the paper unifies the fundamentals on which these initiatives are based. Thus, the general principles are well defined, and those aspects more related to each university and discipline particular cultures are identified. The comparison between initiatives will allow us to identify both successful strategies and resistances. Sometimes, the confluence of different events allows an action to become relevant or not. As a result, the paper can be used to effectively define the implementation strategy of the incorporation of gender perspective in STEM teaching at university level.

Gender issues in the university research environment

European Journal of Engineering Education, 2010

Recruiting and retaining females within science, engineering and technology continues to challenge many European higher education institutions. This study looks at female self-perceptions relating to effective research work and career progression. Focus groups are ...

Gender equality in STEM programs: a proposal to analyse the situation of a university about the gender gap

2020 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)

According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020, most of the countries have achieved gender parity in educational attainment. Furthermore, Latin America and Europe have more women than men enrolled in tertiary education. The problem arises when those numbers are analysed by degree studies. There is a gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), with a low number of women enrolled in those programs and even lower numbers of graduates. The universities have a key role to steer new conceptions and understanding of the females in STEM. The higher education institutions have to define measures and policies to reduce the gender gap in the careers of the future. This work aims to provide a proposal to analyse the gender equality gap in STEM as a first step to define gender equality action plans focused on processes of attraction, access and retention and guidance in STEM programs. The proposal was applied in ten Latin American universities from Chile,

Gender Cultures in Research and Science : An Investigation at Birkbeck

2016

This research focuses on career trajectories and experiences of Birkbeck academic and professional staff, with a focus on gender differences. Literature highlights that horizontal and vertical segregation in universities persist, and are deeply rooted in organisational structures. To better understand how individual career choices and work conditions interplay with the overarching organisational structure at Birkbeck, a research applying more in-depth methods (interviews, focus groups, and observations), has been conducted in 2014 and 2015. The findings highlight that differences between women and men exist, especially in relation to the management of their workload and to the tasks they are in charge of. Also, women are still subject to subtle discriminations and stereotypes that undermine their professional role and image. A gendered division of labour still exists inside and outside working places. Overall, these results ask for interventions at different levels of an organisatio...

Gender Cultures in Research and Science

This research focuses on career trajectories and experiences of Birkbeck academic and professional staff, with a focus on gender differences. Literature highlights that horizontal and vertical segregation in universities persist, and are deeply rooted in organisational structures. To better understand how individual career choices and work conditions interplay with the overarching organisational structure at Birkbeck, a research applying more in-depth methods (interviews, focus groups, and observations), has been conducted in 2014 and 2015. The findings highlight that differences between women and men exist, especially in relation to the management of their workload and to the tasks they are in charge of. Also, women are still subject to subtle discriminations and stereotypes that undermine their professional role and image. A gendered division of labour still exists inside and outside working places. Overall, these results ask for interventions at different levels of an organisation: the micro level where tasks and workloads are negotiated, and the sites where strategic decisions are made; also, it is necessary to raise awareness on gender issues at all levels and to push towards cultural change.

Policy towards Gender Equity in Science and Research.

The report forms part of the overall effort to produce a meta-analysis of gender and science research across Europe (FP7 RTD–PP–L4–2007–1). Its objective is to analyse national, regional and local policies, measures and programmes towards gender equality in science and research covering the period from 1980 to 2008. The available literature classified under “Policies towards gender quality in research” (1,296 entries) in the Gender and Science Database (GSD) was revised and grouped according to three main thematic priorities: (1) measures towards advancing women’s science careers; (2) science management and reform, and (3) gender dimension in research and higher education. In general terms, an unequal distribution of the research literature was observed. There is a relative abundance of positional statements, conceptual clarifications, and ecommendations dealing with gender issues in science and research across most participating countries. Equally, there is a relatively large body documenting the vertical and horizontal segregation of women in relation to men in science and research. However, there are comparatively fewer systematic evaluations of policy measures. Geographically, most evaluation and accompanying research of implemented measures is found in the three continental countries Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Research on women in science and higher education: a bibliometric analysis

Scientometrics, 2015

The main objective of this paper is to study the development and growth of scientific literature on women in science and higher education. A total of 1415 articles and reviews published between 1991 and 2012 were extracted from the Thomson Reuters Web of Science database. Standard bibliometric indicators and laws (e.g. Price's, Lotka's, and Bradford's laws) were applied to these data. In addition, the Gender Inequality Index (GII) was obtained for each country in order to rank them. The results suggest an upward trend not only in the number of papers but also in the number of authors per paper. However, this increase in the number of authors was not accompanied by greater international collaboration. The interest in gender differences in science extends too many authors (n = 3064), countries (n = 67), and research areas (n = 86). Data showed a high dispersion of the literature and a small set of core journals focused on the topic. Regarding the research areas, the area with the highest frequency of papers was Education and Educational Research. Finally, our results showed that countries with higher levels of inequality (higher GII values) tend to present higher relative values of scientific productivity in the field.