Scratch 2050

 Introduction 

In this section, we discuss strategies that teachers can use to promote the involvement and learning of girls in STEM and ICT lessons and sessions of your coding club. 

What can you do to encourage girls in learning STEM? Often, boys tend to dominate learning processes to maintain their superiority in the presence of girls. Therefore, you need to consider the specific gender needs of girls and boys in planning your lessons and club sessions. 

Think about how all students can participate in learning activities. Ensure that there is equal participation in activities such as presenting projects, conversations and practical activities. In group activities, ensure that both girls and boys are given leadership positions and roles. Make sure that learning materials and computers are distributed equitably to both girls and boys, especially in cases of shortages.

Making STEM lessons gender equitable:

1) Classroom arrangement

Consider the typical classroom arrangement – desks arranged in rows facing the teacher. Often, such an arrangement reinforces traditional gender patterns. Since girls are not brought up to speak out, when they sit at the back of the class, they are less likely to participate unless the teacher makes a special effort to involve them. Remember the distinction between equality and equity. Being gender responsive does not means treating all learners equally but making sure that all learners have equal opportunities to learn. A different arrangement such as breaking the class into smaller groups may encourage girls to participate more.

2) Teach students that all students have abilities to learn

To change girls’ beliefs about their abilities, teachers should understand and communicate to students that abilities in STEM, ICT and coding —like all abilities—can be improved through consistent effort and learning (Dweck, 2006, 2015). To help girls resist negative reactions to the difficulty of STEM and ICT, it is important to stress for them to learn that their abilities can improve with continuous effort and engagement.

3) Expose girls to female role models

Researchers have found that negative stereotypes can affect performance and have called this phenomenon “stereotype threat.” 

Studies show that stereotype threat can lead young adolescent girls and women to choose unchallenging problems to solve, lower their performance expectations and devalue mathematics as a career choice. In addition, we suggest that teachers invite women or elder students who can serve as role models in STEM to be guest speakers or tutors. These role models should communicate that becoming good at mathematics and science takes hard work and that self-doubts are a normal part of the process of becoming expert in any field. 

Examples of role models for STEM in Africa:

Apps and Girls 

Apps & Girls is a Tanzanian registered social enterprise that was founded in July 2013 by Carolyne Ekyarisiima. It seeks to bridge the tech gender gap by providing quality coding training (web programming, mobile app development game development and robotics) and entrepreneurship skills to girls in secondary schools via coding clubs and other initiatives such as mentorships and scholarships. So far, they have created 25 coding clubs in Tanzania and they have trained 269 teachers and 2656 girls. They want to train 1 million girls before 2025.

Link website: http://www.appsandgirls.com/ ;

Link YouTube:

Activity: 

Discuss the techniques above to make STEM lessons more equitable. Which ones do you already apply in your class? How? Which ones have you not yet applied? Why not?