Understanding Young People's Engagement, Gender Stereotypes, Interests, and Motivation in STEM Through Informal Science Learning Sites

Abstract

Despite numerous initiatives aimed at promoting gender equity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, women and girls continue to be underrepresented in some of these disciplines, such as computer technology and engineering (NCSES, 2023; WISE, 2022). One of the major factors contributing to this underrepresentation is existing gender stereotypes surrounding STEM and the decline in girls’ interests and motivation to pursue STEM. Developmental research suggests that the gendered segregation of STEM interests and stereotypes surrounding STEM emerge early, so research is needed to understand how to promote STEM engagement and challenge pervasive stereotypes in STEM from a young age. Moreover, less is known about the role of informal science learning sites (ISLS) such as science centres and museums in encouraging youth people’s participation and engagement in STEM. Therefore, this thesis extends existing developmental and educational STEM research by providing a systemic examination of how the various activities and programmes offered in informal science learning sites are related to STEM engagement, gender stereotypes, interests, and motivation among children and adolescents. This thesis also highlights the importance of research-practice partnerships as all the empirical studies resulted from close collaborations between academics and informal science practitioners.