Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) play a key role in realizing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. Crucially this entails finding innovative solutions to forge sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles towards a more prosperous, fair and equitable world. While much progress has been made in the past decades, countries are still suffering from lack of professionals in STEM-related fields and, among them, women exceptionally are still underrepresented even with this mounting demand. In 2013, 28% of the world’s scientific researchers were women and only 14% of women chose science-fields when entering higher education in 2010 among OECD countries. In this rapidly changing, knowledge-based world and in light of the dawn of the fourth industrial revolution, equipping girls and women with STEM competencies will be a driver of development and contribute to their development as equally empowered, proactive and responsible citizens.
In light of promoting the participation of girls in STEM-related fields, the Ministry of Education of Malaysia (MOE) and IBE-UNESCO partnered to develop a gender-responsive STEM education through the project, ‘Strengthening STEM Curricula for Girls in Africa and Asia and the Pacific-Phase I,’ funded by Malaysia Funds-in-Trust under the Malaysia-UNESCO Cooperation Programme (MUCP). Bringing together the Malaysia’s expertise and their effective practices in enhancing women’s participation in STEM-related fields as well as IBE expertise in curriculum and learning from an international comparative perspective, this project tackles issues relating to the refinement of polices, strengthen the curriculum and pedagogical responses, and support practitioners in refining their STEM competencies.
Among other initiatives, the project developed a training tool, ‘A Resource Pack for Gender-Responsive STEM Education’. Its overarching aim is to share a broader understanding of the theory and practice of gender-responsive STEM education, in order to support its effective development at the policy, school, classroom and community levels. It seeks to empower practitioners with a critical gender lens through which policies, curricula, pedagogies, teacher education and professional development, resources and community involvement can be reconceptualised. It provides comprehensive guidance for national policy makers, curriculum specialists and developers, teacher educators, teachers, school leaders and district level administrators.
The Resource Pack is currently available in English and it is our intention to make it available in all UNESCO languages with the support of Member States and partners.
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0025/002505/250567e.pdf
Find the Resource Pack on our blog : http://inprogressreflections.ibe-unesco.org/stem-resource-pack/
