**1. Introduction**

The first introduction of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) acronym was in 2001 by some science administrators at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). SMET was the initial acronym when referring to the career fields in those disciplines. Later, an assistant director of education and human resources at NSF, named Judith Ramaley, rearranged the words to form the STEM acronym. Since then, the acronym has been adopted by several countries beyond the United States [1].

Stohlmann [2] defined STEM education as curricula that attempt to integrate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics into one category based on interdependence and connections in the natural world. Over time, because of the natural overlap between science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the curricula in schools started evolving to reflect the relationships among the fields [3]. It became important to develop curricula that support these disciplines as time went on because of the impact STEM education and STEM-related careers had on society at large. According to Bell-young [4], the STEM curriculum in schools became important in the United Kingdom (UK) for various reasons; the backbone it is to society, the solid intellectual foundation it offers to students who take this path, the practical learning experience it offers, and the problem-solving skills it fosters. With the digitalization and technological focus of society in the last decades, it became imperative to focus on the fields that support technological advancement, which largely happens to be STEM.

To understand better the STEM landscape in the UK, the Royal Academy of Engineering undertook a study, in conjunction with the Lloyd's Register Foundation, to provide stakeholders with an accurate picture of the STEM education landscape. The UK recognizes STEM subjects as critically important to its economic success. For example, according to [5], engineering accounts for 25% of gross value added for the UK economy and manufactured goods account for 50% of UK exports. Science, engineering, and technology underpin the whole economy in one way or the other, including power generation and electricity distribution, utilities, the food chain, healthcare, and our physical, transportation, and information and communications infrastructure [5].

According to [6], countries that focus on the production of information and technology attach more importance to STEM education to improve students' skills accordingly. In the study conducted, it was found that countries such as the USA, England, and Japan that integrate STEM into the education system have grown economically and there has been an increase in students' achievement in international exams such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the trends in international mathematics and science study (TIMSS).

Most countries design STEM education from as early as primary school and have a curated curriculum to support them through secondary and tertiary education [7]. STEM education is regarded as a priority in most high-, middle- and low-income countries [8, 9]. However, most countries in Africa are still catching up with this development. The gender gap in STEM education is prevalent in most developed and developing countries [10] and is attributed to a number of factors ranging from political factors to economic and social factors.

Although women are currently more likely than men to hold a college degree in the vast majority of The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, their choices of college major have been and persistently continue to be different from those of men. According to Granato [11], across all OECD countries, women were greatly over-represented among bachelor's degree graduates in the education field (in which the females share was 77%), but they represented only 26% of engineering graduates and 22% of graduates in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field in the 2020 statistics. This eliminates the idea that there are more men getting educated than women, the focus just needs to be given to understanding why more women tilt more to other courses outside the STEM field and how we can encourage their involvement.

This chapter sheds light on the gender gap in the STEM field by exploring some of the major reasons for this gap and also posing practical solutions across all levels of society, so as to enable stakeholders in the field to pay closer attention to how they can contribute to bridging the gap, starting from their organizations.

The chapter utilizes data from secondary sources, all from peer-reviewed journals, limited to the last 15 years to highlight the most recent work done in the field.
