Gendered Journeys: The Trajectories of STEM Students and Graduates Through Higher Education and Into Employment, In Multiple Global South Contexts, 2020-2024

Women continue to be under-represented globally in Sciences Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) disciplines, including all levels of adult education (approximately 35% at undergraduate study, UNESCO, 2017), and through persistent inequalities in STEM research and employment (UNESCO Fact Sheet 60, 2020; Huang et al, 2019). This pattern persists in the UK despite financial and political investment, with the gap even widening in many ‘hard science’ disciplines, widening as one moves up the educational or employment ladder (Jadidi et al, 2019). This pattern is even more disparate in countries with economic instability, and those in the global south (WEF, 2018). Therefore, our international, interdisciplinary team explored this gender gap in Higher Education study and into skilled employment holistically and through the Gendered Journeys (Global Challenge Research Fund ES/T005068/1) project.

This mixed-methods project conducted a large-scale quantitative survey of STEM undergraduates from India (n = 251), Rwanda (n = 196) & UK (n = 218), yielding interesting findings on the gendered experience of Imposter Phenomenon in relation to achievement and attrition intentions, as well as both gender and national differences in stereotypes, physical comfort (habitus fit), confidence, self-efficacy and well-being. Women, regardless of nationality, in the sample reported feeling warmer on average towards women scientists & engineers, but reported higher imposter phenomenon levels, and felt less comfortable in HEI-related spaces than their male counterparts (all p<.05). National differences emerged also, such that the Indian student cohort reported warmer campus/ department climates, than other cohorts, with greater feelings of safety in uni-related spaces, but had the largest gender gap in maths confidence (all p<0.05), a finding mirrored in qualitative interviews in India (but not Rwanda). Although UK women in our sample often reported the lowest scores- for instance in satisfaction and highest in attrition intentions- qualitative interview findings provided stark themes in terms of issues with comfort, belonging, and wide-spread experiences of sexual harassment and gender-based violence (GBV) at or near university spaces. This finding triangulated also with notions of ‘campus curfews’ and divergent rules for women and men. We discuss these findings in relation to cultural stereotypes- particularly around breadwinning and family duties, as well as maths ability- and in relation to cultural attitudes towards GBV. We introduce the work of our intersectionally inclusive online toolkit, as well as the successful knowledge exchange of our collaborative partnerships, in relation to ‘walking the walk’ of intersectionally inclusive STEM education. We embed these findings within the context of more equitable economic outcomes across countries, such as closing the gender pay gap and addressing UN SDGs 4, 5, and 6.