**2. Literature review**

#### **2.1 Egypt and gender inequity in education**

The Egyptian general Secondary Education (EGSE) Certificate is the official gatekeeper for higher education in Egypt. The percentage of girls passing the EGSE exams in 2016 was 92.3% compared to 87.8% for boys and in 2017 87.7% for girls and 84.0% for boys [14]. Yet female numbers in science and engineering in higher education do not reflect these scores. Further, a comparison between females joining engineering schools and those who take up engineering professions reveals a further gap between academic study and employment [11]. The share of women within professional and scientific fields in Egypt is among the lowest in the world [7, 15].

Family background and geographic differences all contribute significantly to these gender disparities [10] in a country where women are seen as fragile and unable to compete with men in jobs like engineering. Culturally, this type of work is seen as taking a woman away from family which is considered the appropriate role for women [10], inevitably reinforcing the institution of marriage as a permanent alternative to work [16], especially when husband has the financial ability to sustain the household.

#### **2.2 Research perspectives on gender gap in STEM**

Different perspectives have emerged as to what constitutes barriers to women in the STEM fields [5, 17, 18]. These perspectives are reviewed in the following section.

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context [22].

block women's progress in STEM [2].

**2.3 Pathways to improve gender equity**

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

the part of girls has been found in children as early as first grade [17].

Some researchers argue that girls' and boys' interests are inherently different [18]; girls are more interested in issues to do with human health and well-being, whereas boys are more interested in things to do with technology and physics (1). Even within science, it has been reiterated that women with an interest in science are more likely to enter fields such as psychology and the biological sciences. Indeed, interest in physical science on the part of boys and biological and social sciences on

There is conflicting evidence regarding gender and academic performance in STEM. From one perspective, research posited that women come to know things in ways different from those of men; men tend to consider facts in isolation, while women integrate them into a broader context and tend to start from a personal experience. Thus, traditional mathematics teaching that targets algorithms and emphasizes abstraction, logic, and certainty may impact females' achievement especially in mathematics [19]. Even those women who were extraordinarily adept at abstract reasoning were found to have a preference for starting from personal experience [19]. However, a meta-analysis of 100 studies found that gender differences in mathematics performance are small [20]. For instance, it was reported that while males scored significantly higher on college entrance exams in the United States, females obtained significantly higher grades while in college [21]. Girls are expected to perform better in mathematics if teaching builds on the strengths of connected learners, focusing on experience, conjecture, induction, creativity, and

Socioeconomic and cultural elements also play a major role in determining female students' attraction to STEM related fields [2, 23]. The dominating social and economic culture, as well parental influence, that can be overt or subtle, may have a great effect on female students' academic preferences [16]. Eight key findings that point to environmental and social barriers to female interest and pursuit of STEM fields were identified—chief among them are stereotypes, gender bias, and the climate of STEM departments in colleges and universities—that continue to

Stereotype threats are considered a major factor contributing to gender disparity in STEM [24]. A stereotype threat "refers to the experience of being in a situation where one recognizes that a negative stereotype about one's group is applicable to oneself" ([25], p. 5). Stereotype threats include the belief held by many pre-college women that they would be isolated in engineering tracks due to their gender and that they do not have a strong enough mathematical background to pursue an engineering career [24] arguing that stereotypes predict national gender differences in science and mathematics achievement, rather than simply a consequence of generalized national gender inequality. There is need for building a positive learning environment to enable female students to develop positive STEM identities that persist across K-16 and into STEM careers and dispel stereotype threats [23].

Confronting gender disparities in STEM requires efforts on several fronts: sociocultural, personal, and school levels including fostering self-efficacy and improving the classroom environment to create a female friendly atmosphere to overcome stereotype threats [26]. At the school level, teachers need to change the way they give critical feedback; foster intergroup conversations among students from different backgrounds; allow students, to affirm their most valued self; help students develop a narrative about the setting that explains their frustration while projecting positive engagement and success to improve their sense of belonging and achievement [27]. In this sense, calls for girl-friendly instructional strategies are timely [28].

*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*

provide the context for this study.

the following research questions:

**2. Literature review**

STEM experiences successful?

**2.1 Egypt and gender inequity in education**

**2.2 Research perspectives on gender gap in STEM**

countries have the lowest female employment rates in the world. The few women in male-dominated fields experience traditional gender dynamics, are promoted less, and have little access to decision-making positions [9]. The roots of the gender disparity in the Arab World are arguably related to (1) the patriarchal structure in the region, (2) dominant public sector employment and weak private sector employment, and (3) an inhospitable business environment for women because of the conservative nature of gender roles [10]. Within the Egyptian context, women have not exceeded 24.2% of the overall workforce, with even lower participation in the male-dominated field of engineering [10, 11]. Attempts to address this have been underway since 1990s, including the establishment of STEM schools which

Two public STEM high schools (one for boys in 2011 and one for girls in 2012) were established to provide an alternative to the existing traditional teaching and learning approaches in Egyptian education system [12]. This was considered a bold move towards ensuring equitable STEM education opportunities for both male and female students [13]. All graduates from the first STEM school cohorts have joined STEM tracks in higher education institutions inside and outside Egypt. These STEM schools have unleashed the STEM potential in Egyptian young people, male and female [12, 13], and thus warrant exploration into their success in motivating Egyptian females into STEM careers. Hence, this study was initiated and guided by

1.What were the experiences of the female graduates of the Egyptian STEM high school that motivated them to pursue STEM fields in higher education?

2.What were the underlying social, personal, and school factors that made these

The Egyptian general Secondary Education (EGSE) Certificate is the official gatekeeper for higher education in Egypt. The percentage of girls passing the EGSE exams in 2016 was 92.3% compared to 87.8% for boys and in 2017 87.7% for girls and 84.0% for boys [14]. Yet female numbers in science and engineering in higher education do not reflect these scores. Further, a comparison between females joining engineering schools and those who take up engineering professions reveals a further gap between academic study and employment [11]. The share of women within professional and scientific fields in Egypt is among the lowest in the world [7, 15]. Family background and geographic differences all contribute significantly to these gender disparities [10] in a country where women are seen as fragile and unable to compete with men in jobs like engineering. Culturally, this type of work is seen as taking a woman away from family which is considered the appropriate role for women [10], inevitably reinforcing the institution of marriage as a permanent alternative to work [16], especially when husband has the financial ability to sustain

Different perspectives have emerged as to what constitutes barriers to women in the STEM fields [5, 17, 18]. These perspectives are reviewed in the following section.

**90**

the household.

Some researchers argue that girls' and boys' interests are inherently different [18]; girls are more interested in issues to do with human health and well-being, whereas boys are more interested in things to do with technology and physics (1). Even within science, it has been reiterated that women with an interest in science are more likely to enter fields such as psychology and the biological sciences. Indeed, interest in physical science on the part of boys and biological and social sciences on the part of girls has been found in children as early as first grade [17].

There is conflicting evidence regarding gender and academic performance in STEM. From one perspective, research posited that women come to know things in ways different from those of men; men tend to consider facts in isolation, while women integrate them into a broader context and tend to start from a personal experience. Thus, traditional mathematics teaching that targets algorithms and emphasizes abstraction, logic, and certainty may impact females' achievement especially in mathematics [19]. Even those women who were extraordinarily adept at abstract reasoning were found to have a preference for starting from personal experience [19]. However, a meta-analysis of 100 studies found that gender differences in mathematics performance are small [20]. For instance, it was reported that while males scored significantly higher on college entrance exams in the United States, females obtained significantly higher grades while in college [21]. Girls are expected to perform better in mathematics if teaching builds on the strengths of connected learners, focusing on experience, conjecture, induction, creativity, and context [22].

Socioeconomic and cultural elements also play a major role in determining female students' attraction to STEM related fields [2, 23]. The dominating social and economic culture, as well parental influence, that can be overt or subtle, may have a great effect on female students' academic preferences [16]. Eight key findings that point to environmental and social barriers to female interest and pursuit of STEM fields were identified—chief among them are stereotypes, gender bias, and the climate of STEM departments in colleges and universities—that continue to block women's progress in STEM [2].

Stereotype threats are considered a major factor contributing to gender disparity in STEM [24]. A stereotype threat "refers to the experience of being in a situation where one recognizes that a negative stereotype about one's group is applicable to oneself" ([25], p. 5). Stereotype threats include the belief held by many pre-college women that they would be isolated in engineering tracks due to their gender and that they do not have a strong enough mathematical background to pursue an engineering career [24] arguing that stereotypes predict national gender differences in science and mathematics achievement, rather than simply a consequence of generalized national gender inequality. There is need for building a positive learning environment to enable female students to develop positive STEM identities that persist across K-16 and into STEM careers and dispel stereotype threats [23].

#### **2.3 Pathways to improve gender equity**

Confronting gender disparities in STEM requires efforts on several fronts: sociocultural, personal, and school levels including fostering self-efficacy and improving the classroom environment to create a female friendly atmosphere to overcome stereotype threats [26]. At the school level, teachers need to change the way they give critical feedback; foster intergroup conversations among students from different backgrounds; allow students, to affirm their most valued self; help students develop a narrative about the setting that explains their frustration while projecting positive engagement and success to improve their sense of belonging and achievement [27]. In this sense, calls for girl-friendly instructional strategies are timely [28].

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 enhance girls' skills [18, 29].

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 abilities in single-gender classrooms [37].

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.

### **3. Conceptual framework**

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

**93**

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

convictions or habits adhered to by social beings [41, 43].

based on a critical reflection of the power relationships which are embedded in the structures and functions of society where society is structured by meanings, rules,

In spite of all the written documents, laws and codes of ethics that guarantee equity in all fields, the low representation of females in different male dominated fields might underlie, in addition the social intersectional power dynamics, the lessthan democratic character of STEM occupations [44]. There is compelling evidence that gender roles are largely created and maintained in structured social order, with specific roles assigned to each group that reflect a myriad of cultural, social, religious, and political beliefs and boundaries [45, 46]. Davies [45] alluded to the subtle perception disseminated among family members and society at large that girls are looked upon as "fragile, weak, and powerless" ([45] p. 68), making a decision to pursue engineering as a career is a challenge to this social image reflecting different contextual barriers to such career choice [47]. "Resisting this prevailing pattern gender inequity, occurs on three levels: personal level; the group or community level of the cultural context created by race, class, and gender; and the systemic level of

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

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

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].

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

social institutions" ([43], p. 227).

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

**4. Methodology**

Governorates [50].

language of instruction.

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

based on a critical reflection of the power relationships which are embedded in the structures and functions of society where society is structured by meanings, rules, convictions or habits adhered to by social beings [41, 43].

In spite of all the written documents, laws and codes of ethics that guarantee equity in all fields, the low representation of females in different male dominated fields might underlie, in addition the social intersectional power dynamics, the lessthan democratic character of STEM occupations [44]. There is compelling evidence that gender roles are largely created and maintained in structured social order, with specific roles assigned to each group that reflect a myriad of cultural, social, religious, and political beliefs and boundaries [45, 46]. Davies [45] alluded to the subtle perception disseminated among family members and society at large that girls are looked upon as "fragile, weak, and powerless" ([45] p. 68), making a decision to pursue engineering as a career is a challenge to this social image reflecting different contextual barriers to such career choice [47]. "Resisting this prevailing pattern gender inequity, occurs on three levels: personal level; the group or community level of the cultural context created by race, class, and gender; and the systemic level of social institutions" ([43], p. 227).
