Gender Issues in Education for Science and Technology: Current Situation and Prospects for Change

Girls and women remain substantially under-represented in mathematics, science, and technology in school and in the workplace. Although this problem is recognized, its complexity is widely underestimated and causes are not well understood. We review prevailing explanations, which tend to concentrate either on possible gender differentials in qualities such as self-confidence, or on school practices that allow boys to dominate classroom interaction and monopolize such technology as computers. We also identify disadvantageous features of higher education and the workplace. We then consider what is known about educational innovation, especially in the area of gender equity, and describe some interventions concerned with gender and science and technology education. Finally, we raise unresolved questions and issues about gender equity efforts in science and technology education and suggest directions for research.