Gender inclusive education in the mathematics classroom

Girls are proven to be as good as boys in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and this is also the case in the Netherlands. However, significantly less girls than boys opt for STEM profiles and studies in high-schools and universities. While recent CBS data demonstrate positive changes in the number of girls opting for STEM profiles at a secondary school level, this increase was not translated into an increase in female students choosing advanced STEM programs at a university level (undergraduate and postgraduate alike). Prior research had identified some of the reasons for this disparity, e.g. girls’ lower self-concept (belief in own talents and qualities), lack of female role models and cultural stereotypes in society about girls/women and STEM. This small scale project focuses at exploring how all students regardless of gender could be encouraged to explore their talents to their full potential in the domain of mathematics. We plan to address other types of inclusiveness in other projects in the future. Our suggested project comprises of two steps: (i) Project-based inquiry: students in the guidance of faculty members and experts explore the problem “Why certain groups are under-represented in STEM”. They will investigate solutions to the problem in order to come up with evidence-based recommendations on pedagogical methods, and will set the requirements for what constitutes inclusive mathematics classroom. (ii) Intervention: we then aim to apply these recommendations to redesign the existing course: Calculus-1 in accordance with the inclusive classroom requirements.