Gender Equality in Science Education
In the world of change and progress, new needs emerge every day. In the past, changes used to happen for hundreds or even thousands of years, with the advancement of technology each day we have been learning and participating in new things in our lives. There used to be a few important people in one region who changed the flow of life for long periods of time in the old days, but nowadays millions of people around the World from almost every city are able to change the flow of life and even the future of the world. The world is now globalized and change is very fast.
In our changing and developing world, there is even more need for women. But – unfortunately – the number of women working on technology still did not reach the desired level. This was clearly stated at the Gender and Innovation Meeting held in Brussels.
“Gender aspects continue to play an important role in science education, conditioning study choices or shaping beliefs about one’s own capacities and those of others. Research has shown that, globally, women remain underrepresented in STEM not only as students, but also as teachers, researchers, and workers, resulting in a significant gender gap.
“Research has shown that women aren’t globally represented in STEM; as students even teachers researchers and workers, there is a large proportion of gender inequality” in society. It has also been noted that at the secondary school level, in STEM, female teachers have to work hard in terms of student achievement and gender inequality. (“Gender and Innovation Meeting” (European Schoolnet) – Brussels 2017 ).
There are a number of reasons why females are less likely to consider a career in tech. First, many females do not consider a tech career because it is not being put forward as one of the options they can take. The importance of science education stands out here.
For science education to be effective, it must be inclusive and should recognize how science teachers, scientists, families, and the community work together to achieve learning and teaching goals. Better funding for science education is needed to train more and better science teachers, especially women. Women scientists studying in universities or working in their chosen fields tend to be the focus of discussions about bridging the gender gap in science. But school science teachers are involved in training the next generation of scientists, so they should not be overlooked.
In many developing countries, female teachers become role models and play an essential role in attracting young women and girls into science— inspiring them and giving them confidence and strength to do better and achieve more in life. Every country stands to benefit greatly from training female teachers in effective teaching methods — and from an increase in the number of women who study and work in science.
In this session, we will discuss the education system in Turkey, gender equality in science education, girls’ interest in science lessons and how it should be developed, and the contribution of STEM components to science lessons with expert academics and teachers.