"Does gender matter when teaching STEM?" : Australian primary teachers speak

Current literature illuminates that primary school teachers lack the skills and confidence required to teach STEM subjects effectively. This a recurring theme in the literature and a cause for concern. Recent research indicates that the primary school years are a critical period during which children’s interests and dispositions towards STEM are formed. Building the STEM teaching capacity of Australian primary school teachers is, therefore, an issue gaining increasing prominence. Given that the Australian primary teaching workforce is predominantly female, it is also important to ask whether female teachers’ needs in relation to STEM teaching are different from, or greater than, those of male primary school teachers. A substantial body of research evidence suggests that gender disparities exist in STEM motivation and interest. Therefore, any assessment of teachers’ needs must be examined through a gender lens. This paper reports the findings of an Australia-wide study that compares the experiences and perspectives of female and male Australian primary STEM teachers (N ~ 100) on a range of topics, including: personal conceptualisation of STEM education; perceived importance of STEM; confidence in STEM teaching; and, enablers and barriers of personal STEM teaching efficacy. The paper also examines gender differences in teachers’ personal needs in relation to effective STEM teaching. Using a mixed methods approach, little evidence of substantial gender disparities across the range of issues listed above in relation primary school teachers and STEM teaching were found. The paper discusses this somewhat counter-intuitive finding, and considers the implications in terms of approaches to primary teacher development in STEM.