Promoting Girls’ Participation in K-12 STEM Education: Current Landscape, Hindering Factors, and Recommendations for Actions

This paper examines the current landscape and factors contributing to the under-participation of girls in STEM education within Australian K-12 education contexts. By utilising a desk research approach that reviews a wide scope of literature sources, it explores diverse perspectives on the issue of gender disparity in K-12 STEM education participation. Our review confirmed the "The Leaky Pipeline" reality as described by many scholars. The investigation further uncovers a complex interplay of environmental and personal factors that act as barriers to girls' engagement in STEM. Environmental factors include insufficient teacher capacity for gender-responsive STEM education; unconscious teacher bias; a lack of female role models in STEM; underdeveloped school culture; peer influence; and family influences. Personal factors include a perceived lack of social belonging and wavering self-efficacy beliefs. Collectively, these form a substantial obstacle influencing girls' decisions and experiences with STEM.In light of these findings, this paper proposes a holistic approach that necessitates strategic interventions across ten key areas: shaping a compelling and inclusive school vision; enhancing gender inclusivity in the curriculum; strengthening teacher capacity for gender-responsive STEM education; advocating for supportive school policies and funding incentives; increasing access to female role models in STEM; involving parents; establishing dedicated career pathway advisors; forging partnerships with universities and industry; conducting periodic school self-evaluations; and promoting teacher action research.By providing such a comprehensive and actionable blueprint for key K-12 education stakeholders—particularly policy-makers, school leaders, and teachers—this research advocates for creating an environment conducive to girls' success in STEM, ultimately contributing to the elimination of the persistent gender disparity in this field.