**5. Data analysis**

The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded. Content and relational inductive open coding was conducted vertically (for each participant) and horizontally (across the different participants) [54]. Next, axial coding was used to identify emerging themes. The data was revisited multiple times to make sure that the emerging themes and subsequent assertions were backed by the participants' words and perspectives.

An in-depth data analysis was used to synthesize the findings between the separate cases to understand similarities and differences among them [54]. These final themes were then connected to the theoretical and conceptual framework of the pertinent research on gender equity in STEM [2, 6, 23, 26, 43]. Ultimately, a contextualized intersectional argument depicting a layered pattern of supports and barriers for equity in STEM education in this case emerged.

## **5.1 Findings**

In this section, cross-case narrative and analysis of the participants' unique experiences is provided. The themes that emerged from this cross-case analysis are discussed in depth providing an intersectional pattern of supports and barriers to gender (in) equity in STEM education in this study's context. **Table 3** portrays these emerging themes. The themes are categorized into three levels: family and social; personal; and school.

## **5.2 Emerging themes for the cross-case analysis**

## *5.2.1 Family supports and barriers versus personal choices*

The interaction between the social and personal power dynamics among the participants revealed a direct relationship between family bias and the girls'


#### **Table 3.**

*Supports and barriers for gender equity in STEM education that emerged from the qualitative interviews.*

resistance. Three of the five participants in this study faced family biases against their dreams to be engineers. Fareeda's family members and teachers in primary and middle school adopted the perspective that "engineering is not for a girl." Fareeda's brother, who was an engineer himself, told her that "engineering is hard for me as a boy; what about you as a girl?" Likewise, Latifa, whose father was a civil servant and mother a teacher of Arabic, used to dream of being a doctor deeply affected by her mother's thoughts that "engineering is more like for guys, but medicine is very good for girls." Muneera's parents saw "engineering as having a lower status than medicine." With a middle-class family background with a high school education, Muneera's siblings, were either in or had graduated from medical school; "they [parents] wanted me to be a doctor and I wanted to be a doctor, too. Being an engineer didn't come to their or my mind at all."

Fareeda's teachers at primary and preparatory schools, all of whom were female, had the same perspective telling her that being "a doctor is good for a girl." Additionally, Fareeda's late father was hoping that she would be a doctor 1 day, so in addition other family and teacher preferences, she also wanted to honor her late father's wishes. Before joining the STEM school, Latifa was interested in mathematics which "has always been my favorite subject at school, even before STEM school, because for me it was very easy to do, like it's just simple, but I didn't like social studies because it needed a lot of memorization." While at the STEM school, she realized that as she was "better at math [ematics], it only makes sense if I become an engineer." When she decided to major in mathematics in high school as the pathway to engineering, her mother was initially upset. However, she did not press Latifa since she trusted her choices; "my mother believed in me."

Fareeda was able to confront the family and social bias with high degrees of selfefficacy, resistance, and persistence. Fareeda insisted, now "I see myself as an engineer and I will be an engineer." However, while at the STEM school, she decided to join the science major as this was the path to medical school in the Egyptian system, whereas entry into engineering would have required her to major in mathematics in high school. Her scores qualified her to join the school of medicine, however, she told her mother and brother while she realized their dreams, but she wanted to pursue her own dreams and instead applied for an engineering school in the United States, where she was accepted with a scholarship. She recalled, "They did not object this time. And my brother started to support me in my new adventure." Latifa followed Fareeda's suit, her parents became "so proud of" her and started to look at her as "an idol [model]" for other students to follow after she followed her passion

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*Gender Equity in STEM Education: The Case of an Egyptian Girls' School*

engineer and as Muneera reported "They still don't like it."

just like being a politician, architect, or doctor."

like Arabic and social studies."

**5.3 School level supports and barriers**

*5.3.1 STEM school experience and extra-curricular work*

for engineering. Interestingly, this did not prevent Latifa's mother from occasionally reiterating her wish that her daughter had chosen "the biology major and then she can become a doctor." Muneera also decided to break the family norm and become an engineering major. Yet she faced huge opposition; she had to join school of medicine for one semester before the call for engineering became irresistible. She joined a school of engineering in the United States after being accepted for a scholarship to fund her studies. Muneera's parents could not accept the idea that she would be an

On the other hand, Aida's parents were supportive of her choices. Aida's father, who received his PhD from the United States and is currently an engineering professor, and her mother, who holds a managing position in a big company, "encouraged [her] and said let [her] try and discover things on [her] own." Prior to attending the STEM School, Aida attended a school where mathematics and science were taught in English, unlike other public schools in which this was done in Arabic. This was an asset for her in the STEM school where instruction was all in English. However, earlier in her primary and middle schools, she was more interested in "sports." Later, she discovered that she was good at mathematics; "I do calculations fast, and understood mathematical problems, but I did not imagine spending my life doing that [dying mathematics]." She became interested in "the value of education and especially engineering' only after witnessing the January 25th revolution and understanding how Egypt needs more educated people, scientists, and engineers to change its status quo. Aida believed that her study and career choice was not only affecting herself, rather "education especially engineering will help improve our country in the future" and that as an engineer she would "have a bigger impact than

Likewise, Alia's father, being an engineer himself, "pushed her forward." She stated, "my parents were really encouraging and whenever I was in doubt. They were pretty supportive. I don't think they had any negative feelings towards STEM school at all." Her favorite subjects were mathematics and science which "were not challenging for me at all, what was challenging was the memorization-based subject

The different atmosphere, school culture, curriculum, relationships and assessment systems at STEM school provided a new opportunity for the participants to unleash their STEM potential beyond expectation. Aida argued that the STEM school changed her view about education as not just "buildings where students go to learn subjects like math and science" to the view that education is "about changing our way of thinking." Alia considered her STEM experience as "a very good one that [she is] grateful for being part of it." She maintained how the STEM school experience made them "independent [learners] in terms of that we had to selflearn, think, collaborate, and create … and come to class prepared to present." In her opinion, this was "interesting as it was student centered and taught us teamwork." Along the same lines, Latifa considered her STEM experience as "the greatest thing that happened and will ever happen in my life and I'm not exaggerating." It helped her to become "a good learner and a researcher." She stressed the perspective that the things she learned in STEM school would not have been possible in any other place: "I learned teamwork…how to talk with different people who have different perspectives and everything literally everything …all that I learned in STEM school way practice and [with] teachers' guidance." The school as a boarding national

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87170*

#### *Gender Equity in STEM Education: The Case of an Egyptian Girls' School DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87170*

*Theorizing STEM Education in the 21st Century*

**Themes Subthemes (codes)** Family and social barriers and supports Parents' support

School level supports and barriers Challenging curriculum

Personal aspects Self-efficacy

didn't come to their or my mind at all."

**Table 3.**

since she trusted her choices; "my mother believed in me."

resistance. Three of the five participants in this study faced family biases against their dreams to be engineers. Fareeda's family members and teachers in primary and middle school adopted the perspective that "engineering is not for a girl." Fareeda's brother, who was an engineer himself, told her that "engineering is hard for me as a boy; what about you as a girl?" Likewise, Latifa, whose father was a civil servant and mother a teacher of Arabic, used to dream of being a doctor deeply affected by her mother's thoughts that "engineering is more like for guys, but medicine is very good for girls." Muneera's parents saw "engineering as having a lower status than medicine." With a middle-class family background with a high school education, Muneera's siblings, were either in or had graduated from medical school; "they [parents] wanted me to be a doctor and I wanted to be a doctor, too. Being an engineer

*Supports and barriers for gender equity in STEM education that emerged from the qualitative interviews.*

Stereotype threats and (gender) biases

Dynamic formative assessment

Student centered teaching strategies Positive school environment Extracurricular activities Single sex school setting

Persistence Resistance

Teachers' support

Fareeda's teachers at primary and preparatory schools, all of whom were female, had the same perspective telling her that being "a doctor is good for a girl." Additionally, Fareeda's late father was hoping that she would be a doctor 1 day, so in addition other family and teacher preferences, she also wanted to honor her late father's wishes. Before joining the STEM school, Latifa was interested in mathematics which "has always been my favorite subject at school, even before STEM school, because for me it was very easy to do, like it's just simple, but I didn't like social studies because it needed a lot of memorization." While at the STEM school, she realized that as she was "better at math [ematics], it only makes sense if I become an engineer." When she decided to major in mathematics in high school as the pathway to engineering, her mother was initially upset. However, she did not press Latifa

Fareeda was able to confront the family and social bias with high degrees of selfefficacy, resistance, and persistence. Fareeda insisted, now "I see myself as an engineer and I will be an engineer." However, while at the STEM school, she decided to join the science major as this was the path to medical school in the Egyptian system, whereas entry into engineering would have required her to major in mathematics in high school. Her scores qualified her to join the school of medicine, however, she told her mother and brother while she realized their dreams, but she wanted to pursue her own dreams and instead applied for an engineering school in the United States, where she was accepted with a scholarship. She recalled, "They did not object this time. And my brother started to support me in my new adventure." Latifa followed Fareeda's suit, her parents became "so proud of" her and started to look at her as "an idol [model]" for other students to follow after she followed her passion

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for engineering. Interestingly, this did not prevent Latifa's mother from occasionally reiterating her wish that her daughter had chosen "the biology major and then she can become a doctor." Muneera also decided to break the family norm and become an engineering major. Yet she faced huge opposition; she had to join school of medicine for one semester before the call for engineering became irresistible. She joined a school of engineering in the United States after being accepted for a scholarship to fund her studies. Muneera's parents could not accept the idea that she would be an engineer and as Muneera reported "They still don't like it."

On the other hand, Aida's parents were supportive of her choices. Aida's father, who received his PhD from the United States and is currently an engineering professor, and her mother, who holds a managing position in a big company, "encouraged [her] and said let [her] try and discover things on [her] own." Prior to attending the STEM School, Aida attended a school where mathematics and science were taught in English, unlike other public schools in which this was done in Arabic. This was an asset for her in the STEM school where instruction was all in English. However, earlier in her primary and middle schools, she was more interested in "sports." Later, she discovered that she was good at mathematics; "I do calculations fast, and understood mathematical problems, but I did not imagine spending my life doing that [dying mathematics]." She became interested in "the value of education and especially engineering' only after witnessing the January 25th revolution and understanding how Egypt needs more educated people, scientists, and engineers to change its status quo. Aida believed that her study and career choice was not only affecting herself, rather "education especially engineering will help improve our country in the future" and that as an engineer she would "have a bigger impact than just like being a politician, architect, or doctor."

Likewise, Alia's father, being an engineer himself, "pushed her forward." She stated, "my parents were really encouraging and whenever I was in doubt. They were pretty supportive. I don't think they had any negative feelings towards STEM school at all." Her favorite subjects were mathematics and science which "were not challenging for me at all, what was challenging was the memorization-based subject like Arabic and social studies."

### **5.3 School level supports and barriers**
