Effective government policies for advancing equality for women and girls: international evidence review

Education

There are facets of education that are understood to contribute to gender inequality, or indeed, equality. These include the gender-defined paradigms that influence attitudes, the language used, the ways in which topics are taught, subtle (or not so subtle) influences on the subjects chosen by individual students, and the social and cultural ‘norms’ within educational institutions.

While evidence currently speaks to girls achieving greater success at school than boys, at least in terms of exam results, there are serious issues to be addressed. These include girls and young women experiencing mental health pressures and aspects of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) that, while not included in the remit for this review, overlap with the area of education.

Scotland’s Equally Safe Strategy sets out an approach to preventing and eradicating VAWG, and is supported by several key education policies, including Getting it Right for Every Child. The Equally Safe at School (ESAS) website and programme for schools is a deliverable agreed by co-owners and stakeholders of Equally Safe as one of the 118 actions committed to in the Equally Safe Delivery Plan (2017 – 2021).^[12]

However, much of the literature relating to the role of education in tackling VAWG is focused on describing the issues and discussing or proposing solutions. For the purposes of this review there was little to be found in terms of existing national policy responses, although the UK Government’s recently published 10-year strategy for England and Wales - Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls - includes a Summary of Evidence and an Action Plan to implementation.

Tackling the digital and science divide in schools

Scottish context

Scotland’s Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education and Training Strategy was published in 2017, and set out the Scottish Government’s commitment to increasing diversity in STEM education and careers.

STEM nation is an online resource, created as part of Scotland’s STEM Education and Training Strategy, which offers a range of resources, including practice examples, resources for teaching STEM and links to national networks. Other initiatives/resources include:

• This is Engineering: Schools - Scotland: A Royal Academy of Engineering programme that supports STEM education for students and teachers
• Stemovators: offering free STEM kits and teacher training to Scottish primary and secondary schools.

Broader context

There is some interesting work on tackling gender inequities in STEM subjects being carried out internationally that may be transferable to the Scottish context.

STREAM IT is run by a European consortium from a breadth of sectors including Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs), universities, public institutions, science and research bodies and a businesswomen’s association, and from across 20 countries. Its key aim is “to initiate change about the persisting gender inequalities in STEM education, research, and innovation to contribute to the implementation of the ‘The European Manifesto for gender-inclusive STE(A)M education and careers’”.

Funded by the EU, with additional resources provided by partners and corporations, the project includes “National Inspiration Hubs” in 13 countries, which are centres for collaborative resource pooling and sharing, mentoring programmes and online resources such as the STREAM IT interactive map that leads to all the initiatives being delivered across the member nations.

In the 2024 STREAM IT Research report on previous and running initiatives and European projects on STEAM education and gender equality, reports that, by incorporating elements that appeal to a diverse range of interests, educational programmes can make STE(A)M subjects more accessible and enjoyable. For instance, projects that combine STE(A)M with arts or design allow students to explore engineering concepts in a way that resonates with their personal interests. The report highlights that these activities can bridge the gap between abstract concepts and tangible, creative outcomes, making learning more relatable and motivating, and that using drama within schools is a route to encourage engagement and learning. Mentoring and ambassadorial roles are also highlighted.

The report lists around 100 activities across the participant countries, some of which are no longer “live”, but one of which is highlighted below. The report also highlights challenges experienced within the activities and projects and contains tool kits and recommendations.

One example of ‘best practice’ in this area (cited by STREAM IT), the Inspiring Girls* Expeditions initiative, has been run in several countries, including Canada, USA, Austria, Switzerland, New Zealand and, for 2026, will be run in Central Asia. These immersive educational programmes are supported through a partnership model that includes universities, NGOs and other bodies. Inspiring Girls* Expeditions are described as:

“tuition-free multi-day expeditions for high school youth* that interweave science, art, and backcountry travel... led by professional scientists, artists, and wilderness guides. Throughout each expedition, the team engages in scientific and artistic inquiry about the environment around them”.

Source: Inspiring Girls Expeditions

However, there are caveats to this approach, which are that the expeditions will not be accessible for all, and require knowledge of the programme, initial interest and confidence to apply and meeting any eligibility criteria, including in terms of fitness levels.

Example 13: ‘Fix the system, not the girls’ - Girls Days in The Netherlands

The example is based primarily on information obtained from the following sources:

• Research report on previous and running initiatives and European projects on STEAM education and gender equality STREAM IT (2024)
• VHTO website

This example is taken from the STREAM IT list of research-based interventions in education and in partnerships with business and other organisations and bodies. It is cited as an example of “best practice” as an established, research-informed NGO and cross-sector partnership initiative, with evaluation and regular reports.

Dutch organisation VHTO, first established in 1982, has recently refreshed its approach to improving the inclusion of girls and women in technology and IT. With a core target population of girls between 4 and 18 years old, they aim to ensure that:

• girls and women come into contact with role models
• girls have sufficient exposure to technology and IT, develop skills in these areas, and gain more self-confidence in their own competencies in technology and IT; and
• parents/teachers become aware of gender bias and show the opportunities available for their daughters/students in science, technology, and IT.

Through engagement and partnerships with business across the Netherlands, VHTO have established “Girls Days” under the heading of “Fix the system, not the girls”. These are free-to-access partnership-led days where businesses across the country open their doors to introduce girls to technology and IT. Attendees engage in a range of hands-on activities including programming, designing, and building.

Further example: Norway. New projects at the University of Tromsø aim to prevent dropout and improve grades among female students. When the “Better Balance in Informatics” project was launched, only 13% of computer science students were female, and the university was struggling with both recruitment and dropout rates. The projects are affiliated to subjects with skewed gender balance and diversity in what are often referred to as STEM subjects: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The projects are running from 2024 to 2026. The project leaders Elisavet Kozyri, Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science, and Tor Olav Berg, Recruitment Manager at the Faculty of Science and Technology, spoke recently about the results of the projects:

“The dream is that anyone, regardless of background, can see themselves as a chemist”

Source: Kifinfo

Tackling the digital and science divide in schools – Craigforth’s observations

Preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls, including tackling issues relating to bullying and misogyny in education establishments, is clearly a huge and pressing issue for Scotland and beyond. This work is being taken forward through Equally Safe and a range of other policy initiatives. As education was within the scope of this review, the study team did look for any schools-based initiatives focused on tackling misogyny within schools in particular. Whilst it was disappointing that no potentially useful examples of approaches in other countries were found, this is clearly in no way to suggest that this is not a critical issue for Scotland to address.

Addressing issues relating to women and girls and STEM education has long been seen as important but remains an area in which there still seems to be significant potential. The Netherlands example (Example 13) is just one of a range of approaches being taken forward through the STREAM IT programme; the programme highlights the range of ways – including arts, outdoors and business focused initiatives – in which this agenda could be taken forward. However, it does need to be acknowledged that, given their scale and/or timescales the examples tend to be reporting on activity and outputs, rather than having clear evidence relating to outcomes and impact.