Minding the gender gap in advanced STEM courses: effects of student preparedness and activity level.
Saved in:
| Title: | Minding the gender gap in advanced STEM courses: effects of student preparedness and activity level. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Ram, Ilana1 (AUTHOR) ilana.ram@technion.ac.il, Shwartz, Adam2 (AUTHOR), Roll, Ido1,3 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Instructional Science. Dec2025, Vol. 53 Issue 6, p1457-1478. 22p. |
| Subject Terms: | *STEM education, *Learning readiness, *Gender inequality, *Engineering students, *Mathematics education, *Higher education, *Educational evaluation, Participation |
| Abstract: | The gender achievement gap in higher STEM education is well documented as STEM course grades often show a bias favoring men, even when controlling for overall student achievements. The current work, which was preregistered prior to data collection, replicates and extends prior work to evaluate several possible contributors to the gender gap in advanced STEM courses. The contributing factors include students' STEM-preparedness, learning assessment design, and students' activity level in the course. We analyzed the data of a cohort of 315 undergraduate engineering students in a leading technological university in Israel. A mixed-effect model analysis revealed a gender gap in both high-stakes and low-stakes assessments of learning. We found that the gap first appears in lower-division undergraduate mathematics courses and remains steady through advanced STEM courses, with relatively little variance between different courses. We further found that students' activity in the course's learning management system is not associated with a gap reduction. The analysis suggests that the gender gap can be traced back, at least in part, to students' STEM-preparedness when entering college. Notably, although the gap is traced prior to college, high-school grades likely show a ceiling effect and are thus not representative of the gap shown later in college. Therefore, it may be that other preparatory factors contribute to this gap, outside of or in addition to high-school performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Instructional Science is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
|---|---|
| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 189211917 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
| IllustrationInfo | |
| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Minding the gender gap in advanced STEM courses: effects of student preparedness and activity level. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ram%2C+Ilana%22">Ram, Ilana</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> ilana.ram@technion.ac.il</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Shwartz%2C+Adam%22">Shwartz, Adam</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Roll%2C+Ido%22">Roll, Ido</searchLink><relatesTo>1,3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Instructional+Science%22">Instructional Science</searchLink>. Dec2025, Vol. 53 Issue 6, p1457-1478. 22p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22STEM+education%22">STEM education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Learning+readiness%22">Learning readiness</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Gender+inequality%22">Gender inequality</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Engineering+students%22">Engineering students</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mathematics+education%22">Mathematics education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Higher+education%22">Higher education</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+evaluation%22">Educational evaluation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Participation%22">Participation</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The gender achievement gap in higher STEM education is well documented as STEM course grades often show a bias favoring men, even when controlling for overall student achievements. The current work, which was preregistered prior to data collection, replicates and extends prior work to evaluate several possible contributors to the gender gap in advanced STEM courses. The contributing factors include students' STEM-preparedness, learning assessment design, and students' activity level in the course. We analyzed the data of a cohort of 315 undergraduate engineering students in a leading technological university in Israel. A mixed-effect model analysis revealed a gender gap in both high-stakes and low-stakes assessments of learning. We found that the gap first appears in lower-division undergraduate mathematics courses and remains steady through advanced STEM courses, with relatively little variance between different courses. We further found that students' activity in the course's learning management system is not associated with a gap reduction. The analysis suggests that the gender gap can be traced back, at least in part, to students' STEM-preparedness when entering college. Notably, although the gap is traced prior to college, high-school grades likely show a ceiling effect and are thus not representative of the gap shown later in college. Therefore, it may be that other preparatory factors contribute to this gap, outside of or in addition to high-school performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Instructional Science is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=189211917 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1007/s11251-025-09748-1 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 22 StartPage: 1457 Subjects: – SubjectFull: STEM education Type: general – SubjectFull: Learning readiness Type: general – SubjectFull: Gender inequality Type: general – SubjectFull: Engineering students Type: general – SubjectFull: Mathematics education Type: general – SubjectFull: Higher education Type: general – SubjectFull: Educational evaluation Type: general – SubjectFull: Participation Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Minding the gender gap in advanced STEM courses: effects of student preparedness and activity level. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Ram, Ilana – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Shwartz, Adam – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Roll, Ido IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 12 Text: Dec2025 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00204277 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 53 – Type: issue Value: 6 Titles: – TitleFull: Instructional Science Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
