Girls Into Global STEM (GIGS)

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Description

Intro

The issue of gender bias regarding STEM subjects and careers is a transnational problem fostered by the cultural stereotype of the male scientist or engineer and entrenched parochial attitudes which make it harder for girls to choose STEM. GIGS project will foster quality improvements, innovation and excellence through focusing on internationalisation at the level of partner universities and NGOs. The training material developed can benefit a wider community of European schools. The gender in-balance in STEM subjects and in employment statistics are transnational concerns which extend to most EU countries yet these themes do not feature prominently in teacher training.

Objective of the practice

This is the first project that aims to bring together gender and other inequalities in STEM take up with the catalysts of global education and new technologies. The school education environment and the subject and career choices young people are required to make are common factors across the partnership hence school is the ideal setting for this work. Our project is innovative as it focuses on the idea that school education should include educating our pupils about global issues while offering potential solutions through STEM-based activities. It stresses that STEM subjects and careers should be accessible to all, incorporate different learning styles, foster long term changes in attitudes and behaviours and connect with local communities and environments; not the traditional educational mind set. <br />
The rationale is aligned with several EU priorities, principally the need to address the shortage of workers who lack basic skills in STEM subjects. This was evidenced in the EU report ‘Encouraging STEM studies’ for the Labour Market (European Parliament DG for Internal Policies, 2015) which concluded that these concerns were confirmed by the proportion of students going into STEM not increasing at the EU level compared with other employment and the under-representation of women.<br />
Our rationale is also linked to the EU priorities to improve the digital competence of the workforce. There have been significant advances in the use of digital technology in teaching but to date the essential change in teaching pedagogy to enable these technologies to add value to learning have not been implemented. This was the main finding of the OECD report “Students, Computers and Learning” (2015).<br />
Underpinning both of these areas is the need to develop the global competences of school students built around an awareness of global issues. The world faces many serious challenges-global climate change, food and water security, access to sustainable energy supplies and climate smart food production. Part of the solution to these problems is to innovate education and involve more girls/women and other under-represented groups in STEM related qualifications and careers. <br />
The outcomes from this project will address that deficiency, focusing as they do on training outcomes for universities to incorporate into their teacher training, as well as in-service courses for teachers. Practical solutions to some of global challenges and problems on which the target groups will work are best developed internationally if they are to have wider credibility. Adopting this approach overcomes some of the shortcomings of the ‘top-down’ approach which the partnership is keen to avoid.

Partners

The principal stakeholders for this project are school students particularly girls who demonstrate a low take up in STEM subjects and consequently in STEM based careers. Associated target groups are teachers and teacher trainers who have been collaborating with the partnership to achieve the project’s objectives while additional target groups are the early adopters of project outputs, policy makers. All stakeholders were engaged through a primary telephone contact and then face-to-face meetings to demonstrate the project material.

Implementation of the Project/Activity

The methodology began with collaborative working both across the partnership and nationally to produce a series of Global STEM Challenges. Partners worked together and with their pilot schools to construct the frameworks for a series of school based activities which were engaging and motivational especially but not exclusively for girls. The pilot schools identified the teacher(s) and students who have been working together and established baselines for both. The challenges offered pupils the opportunity to explore creative and imaginative solutions focused on STEM subjects and arrived at through trans-national co-operation. The project team not only stimulated, mapped out and then managed this process but also captured processes and results into a series of outputs (e.g. eBooks) and case studies.
The resulting STEM Challenge Outputs were the nucleus for the Teacher Toolkit. The learning from the first exercise led into the production of the Teacher Training Materials–teacher generated which were planned as a collaborative activity firstly between each pilot school and its national partner then across the wider partnership. The specification for the Teacher Training Materials included four STEM Global Challenges alongside potential training formats and evaluation tools. Training materials were tested locally and finalised in a Learning Teaching and Training Event involving the two key teachers from each school working with university/NGO project partners.

Results/Outputs/Impacts

Working to embed project results and outcomes at all levels is a major priority for GIGS partnership so our emphasis on the impact on participants, participating organisations and on ‘early adopters’ was particularly strong.
Those directly involved in schools – pupils, their teachers and heads – gained hugely from collaborating with peer groups and working together to achieve positive outcomes. GIGS project possessed the essential ingredients for this impact to be felt by those most directly involved especially by the teachers in our pilot schools who are in a position to bring about pedagogical changes both in their own schools and through our multipliers, in other institutions.
The main focus of our project was the development of the resource bank and online training programme. However we also saw considerable value in the Teacher Toolkit and Teacher Training Materials which provide practical examples and tested methodologies showing how attitudinal changes in girls towards STEM subjects can be changed by using global issues, collaborative working and the creative use of IT through the authoring of eBooks.
Additionally, the decision-makers responsible for policy development in each of the partner organisations (e.g. Head Teachers, Senior Management Teams, Heads of Department) were better informed and aware of new pedagogical approaches developed by this project. Heads, teachers and teacher trainers involved in this project had a more positive 'European' outlook and attitude gained and enhanced from the collaborative nature of this project.

Enabling factors and constraints

N/A

Sustainability and replicability

The training outcomes will exist largely as non-facilitated versions usable without additional resource and could therefore easily be incorporated into the teacher training curriculums of the University partners attached to this project. Through our access to Higher Education networks, we expect that this will occur in other HE institutions and also be incorporated into the practices of the in-service providers and schools within and outside of the partnership.
It is also anticipated that the focus of the Girls into Global STEM, will enable Practical Action to build new relationships with organisations and individuals. In the UK alone, there are a number of co-operative companies and NGOs who are keen to explore more gender sensitive contexts that motivate girls into science and engineering. This project would provide the opportunity to formally approach these organisations. The university partners would also approach other universities to determine if they would like to include the STEM challenges (or adaptations of them) in their own outreach activities. The focus on digital technologies in the project will enable Practical Action and others to approach organisations and individuals who promote that learning style. Many are active on social media e.g. @ipadteachers. In addition, there are new opportunities to influence policy makers working on the developments within the STEM curricula in the partnership countries.
Sustainability will be further supported by the creation of an online community hosted in eTwinning, where support will be ongoing between the learning and training events and after the project end, thus furthering the potential to both disseminate the project outputs and enable new teachers to engage in informal professional development.

Conclusions

By the completion of the project we anticipate measurable impact resulting from the work of the project to reach well beyond these local and national target audiences. The partnership aims to produce at least two academic papers outlining the work of the project and presenting some evaluative data. We will ensure that these are presented at influential conferences and seminars where representatives from organisations with an interest in gender equality, global education and in the promotion of STEM subjects to girls will be present. Our desired impact will be for these organisations to link to our website and to adopt or recommend resources and training methodologies. Our MESH Guide and our links with the existing MTTEP network (teacher educators worldwide with an interest in mobile technology) will enable the work of our project to reach a very diverse audience well acquainted with IT and the new learning associated with eBooks. We anticipate that this audience will be keen to adopt exemplars of good practice in collaborative authoring and create impact both within and outside of the EU.

Other sources of information

Project website: http://gigsproject.eu/

SDGS & Targets