- Title
- Investigating the Impact of an Outreach Intervention on Girls’ STEM Identity Formation
- Creator
- Prieto-Rodriguez, Elena; Sincock, Kristina; Berretta, Regina; Blackmore, Karen; Todd, Juanita; Wanless, Erica; Johnson, Sarah; Giacomini, Anna
- Relation
- International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology Vol. 14, Issue 2, p. 183-206
- Relation
- https://genderandset.open.ac.uk/index.php/genderandset/article/view/1394
- Publisher
- Open University
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- Previous research demonstrates that developing a STEM identity is key to students achieving long-term engagement with STEM. This paper reports on a 10-week intervention combining the use of mentors with real-world problemsolving activities with the aim to contribute to girls’ STEM identity formation and improve their interest and participation in STEM. The intervention was delivered in nine schools to 200 girls aged 13-16 in the Hunter region, Australia, with the aid of 31 mentors who supported them as they worked in small groups. All participants were invited to complete post-intervention group interviews [30 interviews, 3-6 per group] to gain insight into their perceptions of the importance of STEM subjects, careers, and skills; and to determine whether our program had any effect on those perceptions. Girls demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of societal influences that impacted their relationship to, and likelihood of pursuing STEM careers, including certain barriers such as gender stereotypes. Girls found the most useful elements of the intervention focused on contextualising how STEM learning could be applied in practice. Incorporating problem-based activities into STEM learning and providing opportunities for girls to see women working in real-life STEM roles emerged as key factors in the development of STEM identities.
- Subject
- STEM education; identity; gender stereotypes; students
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1491816
- Identifier
- uon:53060
- Identifier
- ISSN:2040-0748
- Language
- eng
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