Gender in STEM Education in the Arab Gulf Countries

Martina Dickson holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of London and M.A. in Gender, Education and International Development from the IoE (UCL) in London. She has held a variety of teaching and advisory positions in Greece, Oman, Hong Kong and the UAE and is currently a professor in the Curriculum and Instruction Department at Emirates College for Advanced Education in the UAE. Her research interests include gender in education and science pedagogy, and she has led a number of research projects over the last decade, including studies of academic parenthood, female STEM leadership, gendered choices and perceptions of scientists and science careers. Melissa McMinn has worked in in-service and pre-service teacher education for 15 years and in postgraduate education for eight years. She is currently facilitating a new suite of initial education teacher programs for the Open Polytechnic in New Zealand. She holds a Master of Education and a Doctorateof Philosophy in Mathematics and Science Education and has achieved the status of the senior fellow (SFHEA) in recognition of her teaching and learning support in higher education. She is an active researcher and over the past decade has led projects in mathematics and science anxiety in university students and teachers, learning environments research, and co-researched a number of projects including pedagogy in higher education and children’s perceptions of science and technology, among others. Dean Cairns holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Sussex and is a doctoral candidate for an Ed.D. in Education at Bath University. He has worked as both a research scientist and a science educator. He is currently an associate professor in Curriculum and Instruction at the Emirates College for Advanced Education. He has published widely in high-quality international journals in the fields of polymer chemistry and science education. Recent publications have included investigating the impact of inquiry-learning approaches on science outcomes and students’ perceptions of using technology during inquiry-related activities. His current research focuses on students’ epistemic beliefs about science and their relationships with science conceptual knowledge development.

‘Science is a Boys’ Subject’:  Changing Perceptions in the Arabian Gulf.- Epistemological beliefs about science and their relations to gender, attitudes to science and science achievement in UAE schools.- The Drawing A Scientist Test (DAST): How do girls in the UAE present visual characteristics of female scientists, and what does this mean for gender equity of science careers?.- Changing perceptions of the learning environment and attitudes towards mathematics through inquiry-based learning: Girls in middle school classrooms in the UAE.- Mathematics anxiety in females – breaking the cycle.- Gender Differences in ICT Literacy: ICT-related Individual Characteristics and Enabling Factors.- Understanding of environmental issues across two Gulf countries: Do girls know more than boys in government schools?.- Female STEM Leadership in the Gulf: Journeys through Education.-  Gender Representation in STEM departments in Higher Education Institutions in the UAE.