Gender Equity in STEM Education: The Case of an Egyptian Girls’ School

Abstract

This chapter explored gender equity in STEM education within the context of an Egyptian STEM school for girls. An intrinsic case study design was used to explore the experiences of girls in STEM from a socio-cultural perspective within a critical theory framework. The participants were STEM school graduates currently enrolled in engineering tracks in higher education institutions in the United States. Though STEM fields, especially engineering, are stereotyped as male dominated fields, Egyptian girls at a Cairo single sex STEM school pursued further studies in STEM fields. Findings show that gender gaps in STEM fields in Egypt and girls' education and work decisions were deeply influenced by their childhood background, family education level, socioeconomic status, and idiosyncratic factors like selfefficacy and resistance. At the school level, teachers' support, challenging STEM curriculum, dynamic formative assessment, student-centered pedagogies, female friendly teaching approaches, and a positive school environment played a great role in developing Egyptian female students' potential to pursue STEM fields in higher education institutions.

التأثیر قصیر وطویل المدى للتعلم القائم على حل المشکلات والتعلم المعتمد على الأمثلة فی العلوم والتکنولوجیا والهندسة والریاضیات فی تحسین العبء المعرفی بین المتعلمین المصریین والعمانیین

“…Similar to other emerging and established economies, STEM learning is constrained by gender stereotypes (Makarova et al,2019;Nagdi & Roehrig, 2019). For example, there is a low transition of STEM students to the marketplace (UNESCO, 2020).…”

“…UNESCO and other stakeholders have reported similar trends across other regions (Makarova et al, 2019;UNESCO, 2020). On the positive side, Nagdi & Roehrig (2019) notes that commendable progress had been made in Egypt. For example, the nation had established girls-only STEM schools to counter the marginalization of the female gender in mainstream STEM learning.…”

“…For example, the nation had established girls-only STEM schools to counter the marginalization of the female gender in mainstream STEM learning. Apart from the development of girls-only schools, Nagdi & Roehrig (2019) postulated that the situation might be further remedied by developing student-centric pedagogical interventions, positive school environments, diverse gender-friendly teaching approaches, dynamic formative assessment, and teacher support. The proposals made by the researchers are consistent with the observations made in the qualitative data section.…”

“…The link is vital, considering that STEM learning in secondary schools was an accurate predictor of a student's willingness to enroll in a STEM major at the university (Makarova et al, 2019). Additionally, STEM policy for schools in Egypt (Nagdi & Roehrig, 2019;World Learning, 2020) predicted STEM learning at the university. In brief, linking secondary STEM learning to university enrollment ensured continuity in the integration of student-centered pedagogical interventions such as example-based and problem-based learning methods in STEM education.…”

“…Beyond the issue of demographics, the established utility of discovery learning, simulated labs, and trial and error learning strategies show that alternative methods of improving the cognitive load were less effective and should not define STEM learning. On the downside, there was no evidence of consistency in the pedagogical interventions; teachers adopted context-specific methods, including the thanawiya amma system (OECD, 2016) and girls-only schools (Nagdi & Roehrig, 2019). Even though customizing STEM learning was vital, stakeholders needed to harmonize the national level's educational curriculum.…”