Benefits of STEM Education

The literature on STEM education in developing countries focuses on the challenges many young people face with regard to access to secondary and tertiary education in general as well as the gender gaps in STEM education. It therefore proposes strategies for overcoming these difficulties. Studies on STEM education usually adopt a regional focus such as Africa or Asia and therefore the reports amalgamate data from middle-income and low-income countries. There is some literature on the benefits of science and technology (as a sector) on economic growth or combating diseases such as HIV or malaria. The literature does not discuss the benefits of STEM education beyond the general view that STEM facilitates economic growth and competitiveness. Given that the literature does not address the query directly, the following approach is used in this rapid literature review: literature from developed and developing countries is used to discuss the rationale for STEM education and the key trends in this field. Statistics relating to the gender gap are presented and the impact of some programmes which aim to improve female participation in STEM in developing countries is discussed. Since much of the literature on STEM education mentions teacher training, this is discussed as a benefit of STEM education, together with meeting the demand for skills and innovations for secondary education. Case studies of STEM education projects in Rwanda, a low-income country which has prioritised education and undertaken several initiatives to improve STEM education, are used to highlight the benefits of STEM education

The School Improvement Partnership Programme: Using Collaboration and Enquiry to tackle Educational Inequity

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Strengthening transfers and transitions: sustaining improvement, building capacity (National Strategies)

"This report highlights that sustainable partnership work between LAs and schools can accelerate pupil progress and that Transfer and Transitions are key drivers for raising standards. It describes how things have been taken forward in LAs and schools, and explores what has continued to have impact and how this has been achieved. It identifies significant elements for success and explains how they work in combination to build capacity for ongoing improvement." - National Strategies website

Technology-enhanced Personalised Learning: Untangling the Evidence

Technology-enhanced personalised learning is not yet common in Germany, which is why we have tasked scientists with summarising the current status of international research on the matter. This study demonstrates the great potential of technology in implementing effective personalised learning. Nevertheless, it has not been assessed yet whether the practical implementation actually works: Even in countries such as the U.S., which lead the way in using techology in classroom settings, hardly any evaluation studies have been done to prove the effectiveness of technology-enhanced personalised learning. In the light of the above, the authors make recommendations for actions to be taken in Germany to make best use of the potential of technology in providing individual support and guidance to students

THE DIGITAL SKILLS CRISIS: ENGENDERING TECHNOLOGY–EMPOWERING WOMEN IN CYBERSPACE

This paper examines the latest research on the digital skills crisis, focusing on the factors that contribute to digital exclusion. Through an extensive analysis of current literature on the digital divide, the authors discuss digital skills gaps, namely the exclusion of a sizeable part of the workforce from the digital market economy—and women in particular. Studies indicate that exclusion from the digital market is augmented and reinforced when combining the gender dimension with other exclusionary factors such as disability, age, race and socioeconomic background. Research confirms that the gender imbalance in ICT and related sectors persists today, despite decades of equal opportunity policies, legislation and government initiatives. Women are still underrepresented and digitally excluded and efforts to attract, recruit and retain girls and women in ICT and STEM seem to be failing, reinforcing the gender gaps: participation gap, pay gap, and leadership gap, a result of the deep-rooted gender order reflected in the latest Global Gender Gap Report and Index. A growing body of research of the twenty-first shows that inspiring girls and women into technology—increasing the talent pool in ICT and STEM— requires engendering technology, eliminating gender stereotypes, and raising the profile of female role models and mentors. Studies repeatedly argue that engendering technology entails women’s agency and economic empowerment. Accordingly, the authors include recommendations from inspirational role models and mentors, three successful women in ICT, STEM and Information Society who have made a difference. All three, following a series of semi-structured interviews, propose engendering technology to increase the female talent pool in addition to engendering STEM education, that is to say, including the gender dimension.  Article visualizations