Girls in STEM: Addressing SDG 4 in Context

Abstract

Raising girls’ aspirations for STEM careers is one way to address Sustainability Development Goal 4 (SDG4)—quality education—which seeks to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Various strategies have been suggested in STEM education research literature to achieve this. One such initiative begins with exposing girls to STEM industries during their formative school years. While a range of industry-school partnerships exist, examples of successful models that might inform practice are scarce. This article describes an investigation into how industry professionals, university educators, teachers, and students successfully implemented a STEM education experience (Girls as Leaders in STEM (GALS)). Formative and summative evaluation processes were used to generate data through a co-design research approach to describe and measure changes in student practices, attitudes, and engagement in relation to STEM and leadership as a result of connecting to industry problems. This research focused on the analysis of teacher and student interview data generated upon the completion of the program, which provided feedback on the different aspects of the process and, in particular, the role of industry in relation to the girls’ attitudes. This research highlights the benefits of industry involvement with girls in terms of their engagement with STEM, the authenticity of STEM learning, and the novelty of the learning experience. These benefits are discussed with respect to how they can raise girls’ STEM aspirations and ensure equitable educational opportunities—aligning with SDG4.