Review of the Literature on Increasing the Representation of Women Undergraduates in STEM Disciplines through Civic Engagement Pedagogies, (A)

This review highlights research that attempts to explain gender differences in recruitment, performance, and achievement in the STEM fields and discusses how differing pedagogies can affect participation within programs in the United States. An interesting additional analysis could compare U.S. STEM curriculum and pedagogy as it relates to successfully recruiting and retaining women to approaches taken in other countries. The general focus is on gender preferences in science courses and variations in confidence levels between males and females with respect to science performance at the classroom level. The review includes examination of scholarship that summarizes effective pedagogical processes and environments in secondary and postsecondary STEM education for females. Finally, this review suggests a potential path towards the diversification of STEM disciplines by describing programs that have successfully spurred an interest among women through the implementation of pedagogical techniques characterized by civic engagement.