**4. Methodology**

*Theorizing STEM Education in the 21st Century*

abilities in single-gender classrooms [37].

**3. Conceptual framework**

enhance girls' skills [18, 29].

These strategies include making content relatable to everyday applications through societal connections and connections to prior experiences [22]. Participation in hands-on activities and extra-curricular STEM activities has also been shown to

Fostering girls' self-efficacy is a significant factor in improving equity in STEM [30, 31]. Self-efficacy refers to one's belief about their ability to succeed in a certain task [32]. Increasing self-efficacy can overcome the stigmatized stereotypes of women being perceived as not compatible for STEM fields [5, 24]. Integrating STEM project-based learning into the curriculum and providing female role models can enhance STEM self-efficacy and professional commitment to engineering [33, 34]. Research findings reported that the academic performance of friends of the same gender significantly predicted course taking in all subjects for girls [35]. Specific to mathematics and science, "the effects of friends' performance are greater in the context of a predominantly female friendship group, which suggests that such groups provide a counterpoint to the gendered stereotypes and identities of those subjects" ([35], p. 221). The creation of same sex learning environments is also responsive to what the American Association for University Women (AAUW) [36] refer to as indicators for gender bias in co-educational classrooms, both at the K-12 and higher education levels. American Association of University Women (AAUW) maintains that females have historically received less teacher attention than boys, feel less comfortable speaking out in class, face threats of sexual harassment in school [36]. These indicators suggest single-sex schools or classrooms as a solution to the gender gap in STEM. The National Association for Single Sex Public Education also indicates that girls in single-sex educational settings are more likely to take STEM classes as girls have more freedom to explore their own interests and

However, there are conflicting findings concerning single sex educational experiences [38] that warrant further research. Both single sex and coeducational schooling can provide successes or failures depending on how these school systems are implemented, indeed "sex-segregated education can be used for emancipation or oppression. As a method, it does not guarantee an outcome" ([39], p. 189). In other words, the quality of the education provided in terms of professional welltrained teachers; well-equipped schools, and well-designed, engaging curriculum; and positive school atmosphere is the main factor for success in either system. Based on the literature reviewed, it can be argued that girls are able to excel in STEM related fields when they are placed in a learning friendly atmosphere, where quality education is provided and social barriers such as stereotyping and gender bias are absent. Providing female friendly school environments, using dynamic formative assessments, STEM focused curriculum [40], working in a non-competitive, and in some cases same sex environment [38, 39] can be assets towards improved

girls' performance, excellence and understanding of STEM related fields.

The nature of gender inequity in STEM can be conceptualized as an outcome of intersectional power dynamics between social, cultural and personal frameworks [41, 42] reflecting a recursive relationship between social structures and cultural representations [42]. Within this social critical theory framework, the commitment to justice liberates individuals from conscious and unconscious constraints that interfere with balanced participation in social interaction [42, 43] in an effort to analyze the constituents of the cultured context and replace them with emancipatory ideologies. Accordingly, knowledge generation and identity formation can be

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#### **4.1 Context of the study and research design**

The STEM high school for girls in Cairo, Egypt, along with another school for boys, were the first two model STEM schools in the country. The girls' STEM school was established during the turmoil and rising aspirations of January 25th, 2011 revolution. The STEM initiative in Egypt was supported by a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with Education Consortium for the Advancement of STEM in Egypt (ECASE) leading the process of curriculum development, teacher professional development and technical support [13, 48]. As part of the project, the ECASE released quarterly reports on the development of all aspects of the STEM schools' projects including teachers and students' achievements [49]. The number of STEM schools has now expanded to 11, located in different Egyptian Governorates with hopes of having a school in each of the 27 Governorates [50].

The first two STEM high schools were boarding schools, with students being selected from across the country using a merit-based criterion. Teachers were selected mainly from the existing teachers in the Ministry of Education through a competitive process that included an online language exam, subject matter test, and interview with Ministry of Education officials [12, 13]. The language of instruction is English, while most of the students come from schools where Arabic was the language of instruction.

Students in the girls' STEM school experienced the same curriculum as the boys' school, including project based learning. The female graduates have been successful in terms of enrollment and achievement in the STEM fields. All the graduates of the first two cohorts—except for two who joined business administration—joined STEM tracks in higher education institutions. Around 70% joined science and engineering programs at universities inside and outside of Egypt. The other 30% joined medical-related fields, like medicine, pharmacy, and physiotherapy. Students participated and won prizes in science and engineering fairs at the local and international levels, encouraging more girls to follow on their footsteps, as evidenced by the large numbers of girls competing to join these schools and the number of girls applying for STEM schools outnumbering boys in 2017 [51].

The first author started working at the STEM school for girls in the second semester of its first year as a teacher of English as a foreign language. Subsequently, he took over the role of a coordinator of professional development for the teachers and supervising the students' capstone STEM projects completed each semester. This experience lasted for three consecutive years where he had built very good relations with students and teachers alike. This provided a rich understanding of the school context and familiarity for the participants in sharing their experiences.

An exploratory, descriptive intrinsic single case study design [52] was used as the purpose of the research was to look at the experiences of the STEM girls in its entirety including social, school, and personal aspects corresponding to the nature of an intrinsic case study wherein the participant, in this case the female STEM graduates, itself is the primary interest [52]. In this case study, the individual female participants represent the units of analysis. The study was reflective and retrospective in nature as the participants graduated from the school 3 years ago. This provided a robust design as the participants had a chance to reflect on the impact of their experiences at the STEM school on their learning at the university level.
