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Computing and STEM in Greece: Gender representation of students and teachers during the decade 2002/2012

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Abstract

Female student representation in Computing and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Tertiary education is under-researched in a number of countries including Greece, while studies on female secondary level education teacher representation in Computing and STEM have not yet been reported. This study focuses on the investigation of gender representation of tertiary-level education students (freshmen, graduates, master’s degree graduates and PhD’s) and of secondary-level education teachers in Computing and STEM education during the decade 2002–2012 in Greece. A quantitative study was conducted taking into account appropriate data that emerged from the Hellenic Statistical Authority which is the national statistical service of Greece. During the studied decade:(a) Females were less prevalent than males at all levels of study in Computing and Engineering, (b) the number of males did not exceed that of females in Physics (freshmen, graduates and master’s degree holders) or in Mathematics (graduates),(c) Female teachers were less prevalent than males in Computing and STEM,(d) Computing female schoolteachers are better represented at all levels of secondary education compared to the representation of their female counterparts in the rest of the disciplines of STEM education,(e) There is no pipeline shrinkage between female freshmen and graduates of undergraduate studies in Computing and STEM and there was also no female dropout from level (undergraduate studies) to level (master’s degree studies) in Greek Computing, Physics and Engineering departments. It seems that the main problem is recruitment and not retention in Computing and STEM, despite female under-representation in most of these disciplines.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cultural Technology and Communications, University of the Aegean, University Hill, 81100, Mytilene, Greece

    Maria Kordaki & Ioannis Berdousis

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  1. Maria Kordaki
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  2. Ioannis Berdousis
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Correspondence to Maria Kordaki.

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Kordaki, M., Berdousis, I. Computing and STEM in Greece: Gender representation of students and teachers during the decade 2002/2012. Educ Inf Technol 22, 101–124 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-015-9432-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-015-9432-2

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