Pedagogy of Post-Compulsory Education

Gendered Journeys: the trajectories of STEM students and graduates through higher education and into employment, in India and Rwanda

The Gendered Journeys project investigates how far, and in what ways, gender may have an influence in the progress of students through higher education, graduation and progression into skilled employment in STEM fields in India and Rwanda. At present, girls and women are markedly under-represented in STEM areas both as students and in the workforce in most countries across the globe. At the Higher Education level, only 35% of students enrolled in STEM studies internationally are women (UNESCO, 2017a). Addressing this problem is vital in ensuring equitable access to quality education and meaningful work, and is crucial for countries seeking to prioritise equitable economic development, speaking directly to UN SDGs 4, 5, and 6.

Both our countries of focus, India, and Rwanda, currently have a severe under-representation of women STEM students in HE, and in relation to the skilled workforce (WEF, 2018), and there is a limited amount of research in these countries, as in many global south contexts, on gender and STEM issues post-secondary school (for an overview see e.g. UNESCO, 2017a). What is particularly under-researched is the gendered journeys of students once they have accessed university, and beyond into skilled employment (UNESCO, 2017a, EGHE, 2018). Moreover, most lower and middle-income countries do not collect detailed disaggregated data to document access, retention, transfer/dropout, and successful graduation at HE level, especially by institution and discipline (see Chanana, 2007). Neither is there information on the onward journeys of students after they leave education Our research thus seeks to address these gaps.

The project consists of a range of quantitative and qualitative methods, including:

secondary statistical data analysis of gendered patterns of HE participation and achievement, utilising available data in India and Rwanda, with UK data utilised for comparative purposes
largescale primary survey data with STEM students in both countries.
a range of in-depth qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews with three sets of participants in India and Rwanda (followed up a year later): first-year STEM students and final year STEM students at a university in each country and employees in a key STEM employer in each country

The project aims to utilise the findings for a range of materials/activities, including the development of gender-sensitive virtual support 'toolkits', developed in conjunction with student participants; and gender-sensitive CPD materials developed in conjunction with STEM academic and industry staff, tailored to appropriate national/regional contexts.

The Gendered Journeys project builds in part on the sharing of knowledge and ideas generated through a previous project also led by Barbara Read, the ESRC-funded network Examining Gender in Higher Education (EGHE): exploring gendered patterns of participation and success in STEM and beyond. A UK-African Countries Network. One of the objectives of the project was in relation to the capacity-building of excellent early career researchers, and we are very pleased that amongst the Rwandan team for the Gendered Journeys project is co-I and ECR Jane Umutoni, who previously played a key role as co-I in the EGHE network.

The project also benefits immensely from the expertise of fellow co-investigators Dr Josephine Malonza from the University of Rwanda, Prof Manish Thakur and Dr Saikat Maitra from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, and Prof Srabani Maitra, Prof Bonnie Slade, and Prof Catherine Lido at the University of Glasgow. Now in our final year of the project, we are delighted have on board Research Associates Zy Evangelista, an expert on quantitative and mixed methods and data analysis, and Ana Miranda, an expert in the area of knowledge exchange.

We have also been able to capitalise on other links with GCRF that the University of Glasgow has built, and with which other team members are involved, including the work of the Centre for Sustainable Healthy Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods.

PI: Dr Barbara Read

CoIs: Prof Catherine Lido; Dr Saikat Maitra (Indian Institute of Management Calcutta); Prof Srabani Maitra; Dr Josephine Malonza (University of Rwanda); Prof Bonnie Slade; Prof Manish Thakur (Indian Institute of Management Calcutta); Ms Jane Umutoni (University of Rwanda)

Start and end dates: 01 February 2020 to 29 December 2023 (including an 11-month no-cost extension reflecting delays due to the pandemic)

Economic and Social Research Council - £986,320.12

CR&DALL Theme Tags:

VisNET: Virtual in situ networking to reinvent the rules of international collaborations and reduce gender differences in academic careers

Female academics, particularly in STEM subjects, score consistently lower than male academics in metrics measuring international [1] and industrial collaborations [2]. These two related assessment criteria are key at all stages in academic careers and particularly important at senior levels to secure the highest value research grants and promotions. While several barriers have been identified to academic career advancement for women and have led to strategic interventions at national and institutional levels, there remains a lack of data and action specifically targeting networking and collaboration - the focus of this VisNET programme.

Our vision is

1) To identify key barriers to international collaboration for female engineering academics

2) To design and demonstrate interventions and new best practices in networking and collaborations to define a new and more effective normal.

The emergence and rapid development of technologies that support geographically remote working relationships presents a timely opportunity. Effective use of such tools could help to correct the disadvantages experienced by women in international collaboration. We propose an intervention to determine and remodel the implicit 'rules' of networking and collaboration. This pilot project is aimed at a cohort of female post-doctoral researchers (PDRAs). Transition from post-doc to academic is a key attrition point for women in engineering. Success is reliant on demonstrating the means to develop academic independence. Possession of a strong network can be crucial. At the same time this group has relative freedom to trial new approaches of working and represents a critical mass to demonstrate and embed novel methods, including a route to involve more established academics. Thus, the interdisciplinary academic and industrial consortium we have brought together will lead the way in developing, integrating and advocating a new approach where networking and collaboration is conducted predominantly in situ (i.e. from home institutions). We believe that at this critical postdoctoral stage implementation of strategic networking and collaboration can be career defining, providing crucial routes to build confidence, establish future academic independence and funding success. Furthermore, it has the potential to mitigate the impact of future career breaks and parenthood. By demonstrating that networks can be built without frequent travel, it will also address the perception that an academic career is incompatible with work-life balance or family responsibilities, factors identified by junior researchers when consulted about their choice to leave academia [3].

While we see here an opportunity to have a rapid tangible impact on the academic career of a finite group of women, VisNET will also act as an effective route to embed our approaches into the working practices of our universities. Effective in situ networking has the potential to directly tackle negative perceptions of work-life balance in academia, contribute to the promotion of flexible working patterns and advance inclusivity for other minority academic communities such as academics with disabilities or remotely located. The coordinated outcome of this programme fits directly into EPSRC's and our Universities' strategic plans to build leadership, accelerate impact and balance capabilities ensuring the continued progression of UK emerging research leaders by enhancing their experiences and embedding career robustness.

[1] Larivière et al., "Bibliometrics: Global gender disparities in science," Nat. News, vol. 504, no. 7479, p. 211, 2013

[2] Tartari & A. Salter, "The engagement gap: Exploring gender differences in University - Industry collaboration activities," Res. Policy, vol. 44, no. 6, pp. 1176-1191, 2015

[3] Shaw & Stanton, "Leaks in the pipeline: separating demographic inertia from ongoing gender differences in academia," Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci., vol. 279, no. 1743, p. 3736, 2012

PI: Professor Anne Anderson, Head of College of Social Sciences, School of Education/CR&DALL Co-Is: Professor Nicki Hedge and Dr Catherine Lido.

Funder: EPSRC

Funding: £395,302

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