User:C.recalde/sandbox2

Me trying to write some general rules for text fromatting based on the edits I'm making
 * Replace 'today', 'currently' etc with the year
 * Put 'opinion' statements like that in quotes and attribute the author eg "They are the greatest untapped population to become the next generations of STEM professionals"
 * Be specific when attributing a statement e.g "A major concern in many countries is not only limited numbers of girls going to school"
 * Don't say 'for example'
 * Break up long sections into smaller sections by using subheadings

= Female education in STEM = Female education in STEM refers to the group of under-aged, as well as adult female population represented in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, so called STEM fields. In 2017, only 28% of all of the world’s researchers are women due to discrimination, biases, social norms and expectations that influence the quality of education they receive and the subjects they study. Girls’ and women under-representation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is deep rooted and puts a detrimental brake on progress towards sustainable development. '''Girls and women are key players in crafting solutions to improve lives and generate inclusive green growth that benefits all. They are the greatest untapped population to become the next generations of STEM professionals.'''

Current status of girls and women in STEM education and careers
Despite significant improvements in recent decades, education is not universally available and gender inequalities persist. A major concern in many countries is not only limited numbers of girls going to school, but also limited educational pathways for those that step into the classroom. This includes addressing the lower participation and learning achievement of girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. STEM underpins the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and STEM education can provide learners with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours required for inclusive and sustainable societies. UNESCO stated that "leaving out girls and women in STEM education and careers is a loss for all."

??Subtitle about female STEM education at different ages??
Gender differences in STEM education participation at the expense of girls are already visible in early childhood care and education (ECCE) and become more visible at higher levels of education. Girls appear to lose interest (this implies they don't want to do it rather than are blocked from doing it) in STEM subjects with age, and lower levels of participation are already seen in advanced studies at secondary level. By higher education, women represent only 35% of all students enrolled in STEM-related fields of study. Gender differences also exist in STEM disciplines, with the lowest female enrolment observed in information, communication and technology (ICT); engineering, manufacturing and construction; and natural science, mathematics and statistics. Women leave STEM disciplines in disproportionate numbers during their higher education studies, in their transition to the world of work and even during their career cycle.

???Around the world??
Cross-national studies of learning achievement (measuring knowledge acquisition or knowledge application) from more than 100 hundred countries present a complex picture. In middle- to high-income countries for which trend data are available, data gaps to girls’ disadvantage are closing, particularly in science. In addition, in countries where girls do better than boys on curriculum-based assessments, their score difference can be up to three times higher than when boys do better.There are significant regional differences, however. For example, girls outperform boys in many countries in Asia while the score difference between boys and girls in science achievement is particularly strong in the Arab States, with girls significantly outperforming boys. More countries demonstrate gender differences to boys’ advantage in mathematics achievement, with boys’ score differentials as compared to those of girls often increasing between early and late primary education. Regional differences exist also in mathematics; girls are particularly disadvantaged in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. Differences also exist between assessments that measure learning against the curriculum-based compared to those that measure students’ ability to apply knowledge and skills to different situations. Boys performed better in two-thirds of the 70 countries measuring applied learning in math at age 15.

??Cultural factors??
Research on biological factors, including brain structure and development, genetics, neuroscience and hormones, shows that the gender gap in STEM is not the result of sex differences in these factors or in innate ability. Rather, findings suggest that learning is underpinned by neuroplasticity, the capacity of the brain to expand and form new connections, and that education performance, including in STEM subjects, is influenced by experience and can be improved through targeted interventions. Spatial and language skills, especially written language, are positively correlated with performance in mathematics and can be improved with practice, irrespective of sex, especially during the earlier years of life. These findings highlight the need to look at other factors to explain gender differences in STEM. Studies suggest that girls’ disadvantage in STEM is the result of the interaction of a range of factors embedded in both the socialisation and learning processes. These include social, cultural and gender norms which influence the way girls and boys are brought up, learn and interact with parents, family, friends, teachers and the wider community, and which shape their identity, beliefs, behaviour and choices. Self-selection bias, when girls and women chose not to pursue STEM studies or careers, appears to play a key role. However, this ‘choice’ is an outcome of the socialisation process and stereotypes that are both explicitly and implicitly passed on to girls from a young age. Girls are often brought up to believe that STEM are ‘masculine’ topics and that female ability in this field is innately inferior to that of males. This can undermine girls’ confidence, interest and willingness to engage in STEM subjects.

Evidence shows that girls’ self-efficacy and attitudes related to STEM are strongly influenced by their immediate family environment, especially parents, but also the wider social context. Parents’ own beliefs, attitudes and expectations are themselves influenced by gender stereotypes, which can cause differential treatment of girls and boys in care, play and learning experiences. Mothers, more than fathers, appear to have a greater influence on their daughters’ education and career choices, possibly due to their rolemodel function. Parents with higher socio-economic status and higher educational qualifications tend to have more positive attitudes towards STEM education for girls than parents with lower socio-economic status and education, of immigrant status and ethnic minority background or single parents. Media representations of women, and the status of gender equality in society also has an important influence, as it influences the expectations and status of women, including in STEM careers. Education systems and schools play a central role in determining girls’ interest in STEM subjects and in providing equal opportunities to access and benefit from quality STEM education. Teachers, learning contents, materials and equipment, assessment methods and tools, the overall learning environment and the socialisation process in school, are all critical to ensuring girls’ interest in and engagement with STEM studies and, ultimately, STEM careers.

Overall education trends: access, participation and progression
Girls’ and women’s participation in STEM education needs to be considered in the context of their overall access to, and participation in, education. While access to education for girls and young women has globally improved, important disparities persist both among and within regions and countries. Significant progress has been made with respect to girls’ participation in education in recent decades. Trends show a small but consistent increase in female students’ enrolment rates at all levels of education since 2000 (Figure 1). Globally, in 2014, gender parity was achieved in primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education. Significant progress has been made in higher education, where the enrolment of female students almost doubled between 2000 and 2014, with young women constituting the majority of students at Bachelor’s and Master’s degree levels globally. However, the percentage of female students who continue with doctoral degrees drops by more than 7% compared to those enrolled at Master’s level.25

Despite the positive global trends, there are significant disparities across regions and countries, and among specific groups within countries. The global achievement of gender parity in access to primary education, for example, masks important disparities in many regions and countries.26 In secondary education, gender disparities are more diverse, with considerable regional differences. For example, more boys than girls complete lower and upper secondary education in South and West Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab States (Figure 2), while the opposite is true in Latin America and the Caribbean.27 Despite gains in access, socio-economic, cultural and other obstacles still prevent female learners from completing or benefiting fully from good quality education of their choice in many settings. These barriers increase in adolescence, when gender roles for girls become more entrenched and gender discrimination more pronounced. Barriers include household and care responsibilities, early marriages and pregnancies, cultural norms that prioritise boys’ education, inadequate school sanitation facilities, parental concerns about girls’ safety on the way to and from school, and school-related gender-based violence. 28, 29 Adolescent girls from rural or disadvantaged areas are at a higher risk of educational exclusion.25

Factors influencing girls’ and women’s participation, progression and achievement in STEM education
Are there going to be sections for each of the four factors?

There are multiple and overlapping factors which influence girls’ and women’s participation, achievement and progression in STEM studies and careers, all of which interact in complex ways, including: (Figure 36): 40-42, 63-66
 * Individual level: biological factors that may influence individuals’ abilities, skills, and behaviour such as brain structure and function, hormones, genetics, and cognitive traits like spatial and linguistic skills. It also considers psychological factors, including self-efficacy, interest and motivation.
 * Family and peer level: parental beliefs and expectations, parental education and socioeconomic status, and other household factors, as well as peer influences.
 * School level: factors within the learning environment, including teachers’ profile, experience, beliefs and expectations, curricula, learning materials and resources, teaching strategies and student teacher interactions, assessment practices and the overall school environment.
 * Societal level: social and cultural norms related to gender equality, and gender stereotypes in the media.

Individual-level factors
Many studies have considered the biological factors that underpin learning, cognitive ability and behaviour. This section presents key findings in these areas relating to STEM studies. Neuroscience research has demonstrated some differences in brain structure and functions between men and women;67 however, few reliable differences have been found between boys’ and girls’ brains relevant to learning or education.68 For example, studies have found that the basic brain mechanisms of learning and memory do not differ between men and women. Similarly, studies on the neural basis of learning have not found that boys and girls master calculation or other academic skills differently and that no difference in brain composition can explain gender differences in mathematics achievement.40 Other evidence suggests that there are no or only small differences in boys’ and girls’ cognitive abilities, communication and personality variables.69-71 Studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may help expand understanding of neuroprocessing, but results are not conclusive to support differences in abilities based on different brain structures or functions by sex.72 Girls and boys appear to develop equally well in early cognitive skills that relate to quantitative thinking and knowledge of objects in the environment.71,73 These findings suggest that there are more differences in basic cognitive, emotional and self-regulatory abilities among individuals within each sex than between men and women.

Research highlights the malleability of the brain and the importance of environmental influences in the learning process.40 Evidence from neuroscience shows that neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to create new connections – is the foundation of any kind of learning and that the brain is more malleable during childhood than at any other stage in life.74 Furthermore, children who are aware of brain neuroplasticity and who are told that their performance can improve by working hard have higher test scores.68 In addition, students who believe that their abilities can be changed are more open to learning new material, mastering more difficult content and responding to challenges with increased effort.75

Research on the cognitive predictors of STEM learning in children suggests that written language (awareness of phonetics, knowledge of letters and vocabulary) and spatial skills (ability to understand problems that relate to physical spaces, shapes, and forms) can predict competence in mathematics.76 For example, children with stronger written language and spatial skills have stronger competence in mathematics in Grade 1 and advance more rapidly over time. Spatial ability also appears to predict STEM careers.77 Boys are considered to have better spatial skills than girls, but this is probably due to the family environment which provides boys with greater opportunities to practice these skills.78 Although not all studies on this topic confirm sex-based variations in language and spatial skills,76 researchers support that linguistic, spatial and number skills – as with other cognitive abilities – are flexible and can be significantly improved through early experiences.76,79

Genetic studies have found that cognitive skills, including education performance, are influenced by genetic factors.80,81 There is no evidence of genetic differences in cognitive ability between the sexes, however, and genetic influences are neither deterministic nor static. They are influenced by, and interact with, environmental factors. In particular, the family, classroom or the wider education system, may determine the extent to which genes influence cognitive ability.80,81. The number and combination of genetic factors,81 as well as the way in which the environment interacts with each individual’s genetic types, may cause different patterns in motivation, learning, ability and achievement.82 Genes may also be manifested differently, depending on an individual’s environment and developmental stage, and their influence tends to become stronger with age.81 Furthermore, the same genes, so called ‘generalist genes’, affect different abilities. This means that genes associated with one learning ability, such as reading, are very likely to be associated with other learning abilities, for example, mathematics.80 This contradicts the stereotype that ‘girls are good in reading and boys are good at math’.

Research on the role of hormones on brain development shows that increased pre-natal exposure of girls to testosterone affects their post-natal behaviour. This includes, for example, showing a preference for objects that move in space, or expressing physical aggression rather than empathy, which is related to lower exposure to testosterone.83,84 Although higher exposure to testosterone has not been found to influence mathematical or spatial abilities,83 some suggest it can influence girls’ likelihood of choosing careers considered ‘typically male’ and which require risk-taking and competition.85 Other research finds girls who have earlier menarche lean more towards STEM subjects in higher education.86 Additional research is needed to confirm the role of hormones and early menarche in the pursuit of STEM studies.

Girls’ decisions about their studies and careers are influenced to a great extent by psychological factors, which affect their engagement, interest, learning, motivation, persistence and commitment in STEM. PISA 2015 reports that engagement in science is determined by two factors – the way that girls and boys perceive themselves, i.e. what they are good at and what is good for them, and their attitudes towards science, i.e. if they think science is important, enjoyable and useful.17 Both factors are closely linked to the social environment and the socialisation process rather than to innate, biological factors. This section presents key findings on psychological factors that impact on girls’ STEM studies and career aspirations.

A significant amount of research has focused on the need to develop girls’ science and mathematics identities and self-perceptions of their potential in STEM studies and professions.87-89 Self-selection bias is considered to be the major reason for girls opting out of STEM,90-93 as girls often do not consider STEM professions to be compatible with their gender. Studies have shown that stereotyped ideas about gender roles develop early in life, even in families promoting gender equality.94 For example, it is found that girls and boys often have different toy preferences by the end of the first year of their lives, they understand gender stereotypes and want to behave like others of the same sex by as early as age two, and they learn to adjust their behaviour according to internalised gender stereotypes by age four. Gender stereotypes about STEM are prevalent throughout the socialisation process, during which girls learn and develop gender roles. There are two predominant stereotypes with relation to gender and STEM – ‘boys are better at maths and science than girls’ and ‘science and engineering careers are masculine domains’.91 Gender stereotypes about perceived higher-level intellectual ability among boys in general, and specifically in mathematics and science, are acquired early. A recent US study found that stereotypes associating highlevel intellectual capacity and ‘genius’ with males are internalised by children as young as six years old.95 Other studies have found that the belief that men are better than women at mathematics negatively influences girls’ career aspirations and learning achievement from an early age.95-97 Women have been found to be under-represented in fields where it is believed that innate talent is the main requirement for success and where women are stereotyped as not possessing this talent.98-101

Explicit or implicit gender stereotypes that communicate the idea that STEM studies and careers are male-dominated can negatively affect girls’ interest, engagement and achievement in STEM and discourage them from pursuing STEM careers.91,94,102,103 When asked to draw or describe STEM professionals, many studies have found adolescents have gender-stereotyped perceptions of scientists as being a male (as well as unattractive, socially awkward, and middle-aged/elderly).104-108 The For Girls in Science programme of the L’Oréal Foundation in France (see Box 11) also found that students in secondary education held stereotypical views about science studies and professions.109 Many identified science subjects to be masculine, demanding innate ability, and isolated, and women in science studies and professions unattractive in appearance. Even if girls do not endorse these stereotypes themselves, knowing that people in their immediate environment hold such beliefs can undermine girls’ confidence and, consequently, their performance and intention to pursue STEM careers.91,110,111 The need for belonging and identifying with the study field one pursues is also found to lead to better outcomes and engagement, but females report finding it more difficult to identify with STEM than males, and some feel their academic identity in STEM is incompatible with their gender identity.64,112 For instance, a longitudinal UK study found that it was not ‘thinkable’ for girls, especially for those from lower socio-economic backgrounds and minority groups, to imagine themselves within the ‘masculine’ world of science.66 The need for belonging also appears to lead many girls into programmes with a more supportive academic climate.113 Lack of support, encouragement and reinforcement is detrimental to girls’ intention to study STEM.114

Interventions that help increase girls’ and women’s interest in, and engagement with, STEM education
The ecological framework presented in the previous section demonstrates that there is no single factor that can influence alone girls’ and women’s participation, achievement and progression in STEM education. Positive outcomes are the result of interactions among factors at the individual, family, school and societal levels, and demand engagement from stakeholders at each of these levels. It is necessary to recognise that broader efforts are needed to combat gender discrimination and advance gender equality in society. There are four levels of the ecological model: Linguistic, spatial and number skills strongly predict later achievement in STEM.233 As with other cognitive abilities, these skills are flexible and highly influenced by instruction and practice and can be significantly improved through early experiences.76,79 For instance, a study in India found that spatial skills interact with culture and that providing equal education and changing the way girls are treated at home has a positive influence on their spatial skills.78 Parents and ECCE development centres can help with early interventions by providing opportunities for practice, for example, through playful learning, such as block play.234 Parental engagement and activities to extend school learning into the home and other settings can also be promoted.
 * Individual level: interventions to build children’s spatial skills, self-efficacy, interest and motivation among girls to pursue STEM studies and careers;
 * Family and peer level: interventions to engage parents and families to address misconceptions about sexbased, innate abilities, to expand understanding of STEM educational opportunities and careers, and to connect families to educational advisers to build STEM pathways, as well as peer support;
 * School level: interventions to address teachers’ perceptions and capacity, to develop and deliver gender-responsive curricula, to implement genderneutral assessments;
 * Societal level: interventions to social and cultural norms related to gender equality, gender stereotypes in the media, and policies and legislation.

Girls need support to develop positive math and science identities, belief in their abilities and a sense of belonging in STEM studies and careers.66,235 This can be done by increasing girls’ exposure to STEM experiences155, 236 such as the one featured in Box 2. Even brief interactions have been found to shape student beliefs about their potential for success in STEM. For example, in Israel, a programme called Mind the Gap! organized school visits to Google, annual tech conferences and provided access to female engineers to discuss careers in computer science and technology.237 The programme was found to impact on girls’ choice of computer science as a high school major.238 The presence of female role models in STEM subjects can mitigate negative stereotypes about sex-based ability and offer girls an authentic understanding of STEM careers.91,240 Role models can also enhance girls’ and women’s self perceptions and attitudes toward STEM, as well as their motivation to pursue STEM careers.64 This contact can begin as early as primary education, and continue through secondary and tertiary levels and into career entry. In Nigeria, role models were found to assist in retaining girls in STEM at all levels of education.241 Role models can be older students, professionals in STEM academic, business and research environments.The expansion of ‘STEM clinics’ and camps, such as the ones featured in Box 3, can encourage girls’ engagement through access to role models. For STEM role models to be effective, girls should be able to identify with them.173 If girls believe that the success of role models is beyond their reach, they may feel threatened rather than motivated. This may distance girls from the role models’ field. A US study found that the presence of same-sex role models has a far bigger impact on women than on men.64 Girls with stronger self-confidence and belief in their capacities in STEM perform better at school and have better chances to pursue STEM careers.125 For example, a study showed that when girls were told that their cognitive ability can increase with learning and practice, they performed better in mathematics tests and were more like to be interested in future mathematics studies.91 Opportunities for practice in areas like engineering, in particular, can also increase girls’ self-efficacy and interest.129 Box 4 presents examples of programmes aiming to build girls’ ICT skills to become innovators in computer technology.