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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.
Sec. STEM Education
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1428952
This article is part of the Research Topic Invention Education and STEM: Perspectives and Possibilities View all 6 articles

The lack of STEM vocations and gender gap in Secondary Education students

Provisionally accepted
Mariana Hernández Pérez Mariana Hernández Pérez 1*José A. Alonso Sánchez José A. Alonso Sánchez 2Pedro M. Hernández Castellano Pedro M. Hernández Castellano 1Eduardo G. Quevedo Eduardo G. Quevedo 3
  • 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
  • 2 Department of Physical Education, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
  • 3 Institute for Applied Microelectronics, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The gender gap in STEM vocations among high school students still remains a troubling reality. Several studies indicate that students in general have less interest in science and technology subjects, and this disparity is even more distinguishable among female students. In fact, the aforementioned gender gap in STEM begins to manifest itself at an early age and worsens during adolescence. Some of the multiple causes include cultural factors, gender stereotypes and lack of female role models. Therefore, it is essential to promote gender equality and encourage inclusion and diversity in the educational environment as a key measure to reduce the gap. This is why in this study comprehensive research was carried out to analyze the factors that contribute to the gender gap in STEM careers. To this end, a survey was conducted of approximately one thousand secondary education students from a range of centres in the Canary Islands. The survey yielded insights into the direct influence of close references on students and the lack of female role models. This allowed the identification of effective measures to increase women's participation in these fields. One of the suggested solutions is the implementation of practical workshops, in which female figures play a key role. These workshops are used to demonstrate to students that there are numerous role models nearby who can motivate and encourage them to explore and develop their interest in the field of science and technology. By providing said opportunities and role models, our aim is to build their confidence and provide them with the necessary tools to take advantage of all the opportunities that the STEM field has to offer.

    Keywords: gender gap 1, STEAM vocations 2, Maker Education 3, female role models 4, family influence 5

    Received: 07 May 2024; Accepted: 27 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Hernández Pérez, Alonso Sánchez, Hernández Castellano and Quevedo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mariana Hernández Pérez, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.