STEM Education and Gender Gap: Pedagogical Strategies to Promote Female Participation

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-618-5_17How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Gender Gap; STEM Education; Inclusive Pedagogy; Female Participation; Gender-Sensitive Teaching

Abstract

Gender disparity in STEM education continues to pose a serious problem in achieving balanced development and innovation. Even with measures to address the issue, the gender gap persists owing to socio-cultural barriers, gender stereotypes, the absence of role models, and pedagogic challenges. This paper aims to investigate pedagogic strategies to enhance participation and retention rates of females in STEM education, especially within the Indian context. It assesses pedagogic strategies that can improve female enrolment and retention within STEM education. Pedagogic measures include gender-sensitive teaching methodologies, inclusive curricula, mentorship programmes, and collaborative learning. In this regard, the study analyses the importance of teachers in addressing implicit biases, creating a conducive learning atmosphere, and promoting gender parity. Moreover, the effect of exposing girls at a tender age to STEM subjects, using gender-neutral language, and integrating female scientists’ achievements into the syllabus will be discussed. In conclusion, based on the available literature and case-based evidence, this paper proposes that changing the pedagogical framework could help solve the gender imbalance in STEM education. In conclusion, ensuring gender equality in STEM education is not just an issue of social justice but an essential factor for sustainability and competitiveness.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Joydeb Patra
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/06
TI  - STEM Education and Gender Gap: Pedagogical Strategies to Promote Female Participation
BT  - Proceedings of the 18th National IQAC Conference (ICon 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 190
EP  - 206
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-618-5_17
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-618-5_17
ID  - Patra2026
ER  -