Factors that impact the persistence of women in STEM higher education: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Abstract Around the world, nations are spending millions of dollars urging educators to implement measures to increase the retention of women in STEM education. Unfortunately, an aggressive response is elusive from the higher education sector for these desperate calls. Globally the percentage of women graduating in STEM has remained stagnant for the past decade, indicating the need for further investigation of strategies to retain women in STEM. This study aimed to investigate factors that impact the persistence of women in STEM higher education and identify strategies for improving their retention in STEM studies. This systematic literature review (SLR) using PRISMA guidelines identified five major categories of factors such as: sociocultural, psychological, supportive, environmental and pedagogical that could positively or negatively influence women’s persistence in STEM studies. The findings of the study indicate that knowledge of these factors can be utilised to create a fertile ground for women’s successful persistence in STEM education. Though several studies explored this topic and identified some of these factors discretely, this would be the first study to bring all these major factors together to build a powerful framework for retaining women in STEM studies. The study presents a framework, “A success model for retention of women in STEM higher education”, that recommends powerful retention strategies by incorporating these identified factors.