Network Gender & STEM
The gender and STEM network aims at gaining more insights into the various connected aspects of career choices and professional careers of girls/women (and boys/men) in the direction of STEM as well as detecting new approaches to improve and address the underrepresentation of girls/women in STEM.
The conferences and special issues are an initiative of the “Network Gender & STEM: Educational and occupational pathways and participation”. The network conferences have marked the beginning of a more coherent way of exchanging information, as collectively we work to find new ways to implement research findings in both policy and practice.
“We wanted to know what future STEM teachers understand about queerness, and whether they see it as relevant in their subject,” says Chiara.
Patron and initiators
The patron of the Network Gender & STEM is professor Jacquelynne Eccles. Initiators of the network are professor Helen Watt and VHTO. In 2007, Professor Helen Watt from The University of Sydney was invited as a keynote speaker at a VHTO conference. VHTO, the Dutch Expert Centre on Genderdiversity in STEM makes an effort in many different ways to increase the involvement of women and girls in science and technology in The Netherlands. Our discussions centred about the very many research studies and findings concerning gender and STEM participation, but also that different studies tend to focus on one or few aspects. We agreed it would have surplus value if relevant research results of the last few years could be interrelated, in order to be able to gain a more coherent view concerning gender and STEM (Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics) from childhood to labour market. With this in mind, together we have formed our Network on this subject with members who undertake related research.
Members
The network has started open an ‘only for members’ Facebook group where network members can exchange relevant research results and discuss them among each other. In this way we hope the exchange of information will become more ‘dynamic’ and that it will open discussion on how research results could be integrated in new approaches to improve the underrepresentation of girls/women in STEM. You can find members of the Gender & STEM Network in all corners of the world!
Unmasking STEM neutrality: why queer identities matter in science education
STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) are often seen as the most “neutral” parts of education: objective, factual, uninfluenced by human identity. But researchers Anneke Steegh and Chiara Holzhäuser argue the opposite. Their work bases on the idea that this perceived neutrality can hide powerful norms that disadvantage queer, trans and non-binary students. At the heart of their project, Unmasking STEM Neutrality, lies a simple but transformative question: Who is STEM really designed for?
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