The project will promote and support teachers in dealing with gender-balance and diversity in their classroom. It aims to tackle the low representation of girls in STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and subsequently women in STEM careers. The problem has a European dimension as several studies and recent statistics have shown. Yet, a Commission's study (2015) found that more women entering the digital jobs market can create an annual € 9 billion GDP boost in the EU area. In addition to improve operational and financial performance, investing in women increases innovation, allows better solving problem and group performance, and enhances company reputation (Anita Borg Institute, 2014). STEM education is indeed still characterized by a large gender gap and because women are underrepresented in STEM sectors in most countries, they are a significant source of untapped talent. But, several problems prevent girls from fully participating in STEM among them cultural traditions and stereotypes, as well as unconscious biases about girls in STEM education (e. g. science is solitude, science is more suitable for men...). Gender 4 STEM project aims to: - develop with target groups an innovative and personalized learning solution: an on-line platform recommending high added value materials and a training associated to the curricula of teachers, - engage target groups in exploitation and dissemination activities to promote its use. Then the needs are twofold: - Erase unconscious biases and gender stereotypes in STEM education by raising awareness of target groups, - Support teachers by providing them materials to deal with diversity and gender-balance in their classrooms (e. g. helping them to design suitable education programs, organize hands-on activity, promoting STEM careers...) and then engage more girls in STEM education. The project will target 3 groups: - Teachers and especially teachers in STEM, psychologists and career advisors in lower and upper secondary school; the first beneficiary of project results. - Head of teachers, schools directors and teachers' training centers; they will promote the use of the project solution. - Youngsters of 11-18 years old; the final beneficiary of project results. According to current reports we can fully act on this age range to engage more girls in STEM careers. Gender 4 STEM will activate partners and associated partners from Central, Eastern and Southern Europe where gender inequalities in STEM education are seen, but also good practices to engage more girls in STEM careers (e. g. makers paces like Be Creative or the campaign Girls in ICT in Luxembourg ...). To build a high quality project, Gender 4 STEM brings together a variety of partners with expertise in gender issues especially in the field of STEM (VHTO, Smart Venice, Women in Digital Initiatives Luxembourg), (e-)learning and teaching (Consulio, Professional Foundation) and technology research and development (LIST, Consulio). Each partner has also a strong experience in project management and collaborative innovation. In addition, we can observe – regarding figures in 2012 - in the consortium good mix in terms of gender equality index in Knowledge above European index (49,1): Luxembourg, Netherlands and a group above the European index : Croatia, Romania and Italy. The Gender 4 STEM project methodology is based on a design thinking approach so that target groups and main stakeholders are involved in designing a suitable solution. It is structured in 7 intellectual outputs among them the prototypes of the platform “Gender 4 STEM Teaching Assistant” and the "Gender 4 STEM training for teachers". 7 multiplier events will promote the project results at local/regional and national level and at EU level during Romanian and Croatian EU presidency. The project relays on a strong network of experts embodied in an experts committee built during all the duration of the project, so that the project solution's use will be promoted after the EU funding. A strong reflexion about project results sustainability allows to plan transfer of the solution to other sectors like Adult Education. Indeed, gender stereotypes are also experienced on the workplace and the solution could be useful for recruitment and HR management to engage more women in STEM sectors (like digital). Then Gender 4 STEM project results could support CHRO, recruiters, managers... in frame of their missions.
Gender4STEM “Gender aware education and teaching”, is a co-funded Erasmus+ project, led by the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST). This project was launched in 2017 and gathered 6 partners, experts in gender, technological and learning issues, beside LIST: Consulio from Croatia, VHTO from the Netherlands, SMART VENICE from Italy, FUNDATIA POFESSIONAL from Romania and Women in Digital and LIST from Luxembourg. To spark greater interest in STEM disciplines among girls, the project Gender4STEM aims to support teachers in stepping up their gender fair teaching practices. “Girls are not talented at science, science is for geeks and thus not for girls…” These are some persistent gender stereotypes in science education. We want to tackle this issue and therefore, we have developed a platform for teachers, to provide them with concrete tools for more gender-fair teaching practices. Our platform is called Gender4STEM Teaching Assistant (https://edu.gender4stem-project.eu/). STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. These are key drivers for innovation. The problem is that girls are still underrepresented in these disciplines. One of the reasons why STEM disciplines are unappealing to girls might be persistent gender stereotypes. Culture, education, training, labour market practises can be vectors of these stereotypes. Teachers are not always equipped to manage gender diversity in their classrooms. For example, there is little teacher training dealing with these issues. Likewise, teaching materials often lack female role models to stimulate interest of young girls in STEM. Built on the survey of the common gender stereotypes in STEM education in EU (IO1) and the state of the art, as well as the creation of relevant teaching materials to counteract these stereotypes (IO2), the Gender4STEM platform (IO4) provides about 100 teaching materials to support them in stepping up gender-fair teaching practices: a) quiz and tips to raise awareness on gender stereotypes and increase knowledge of women in STEM, b) guidelines to organize gender balance coding sessions or STEM female role model meetings, and c) videos introducing inspiring women in STEM testimonials etc. The Gender4STEM platform is primarily for teachers, but is also relevant for school psychologists and counsellors, as well as career guidance advisors of Secondary Level Education. How can it be used? This is straight forward: Teachers create an account and connect to the Gender4STEM Teaching Assistant platform. Then we recommend using the self-assessment tool (IO3) to find out how gender fair their teaching practices are and propose personalized recommendations of teaching materials (IO3) and experiment them in classrooms. They can also attend the Gender4STEM hands-on blended training (IO5). If they want to know if they have gender-conscious or unconscious biases when teaching, they can participate in two training sessions. They discover the Gender4STEM Teaching Assistant and available teaching materials, with which they can experiment in classrooms, and they can share their difficulties and successes regarding the issue of gender fair in teaching. Thanks to the Gender4STEM platform and training, teachers are fully equipped to get mote girls excited about STEM. At the end of the project, the Gender4STEM community involved about 50 EU teachers, 100 EU students and 60 EU experts. 6 gender fair teaching projects were conducted in European Schools 2019 and 280 people from target groups participated in the multiplier events. More than 2200 people visited the Gender4STEM website (https://www.gender4stem-project.eu/) and about 160 follow the project Facebook page (Gender4stem.erasmus.project). We count 420 users of the Gender4STEM Teaching Assistant platform, among them about 70 have used the self-assessment tool and received recommendations of teaching materials to step up their gender fair teaching. We’re also starting to plan for relevant applications of the self-assessment tool and the recommendations’ system in other areas, for examples: How to promote gender sensitivity among companies, in HR management practices (recruitment or careers’ mobility)? How to promote gender sensitivity in Science and Technology research and academic sector. Of course, the final objective is always to attract more girls and women in STEM!