An International View of STEM Education

Abstract

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and research are increasingly recognized globally as fundamental to national development and productivity, economic competitiveness and societal wellbeing. There has been a global turn to STEM that is clearly evident in government efforts worldwide to elaborate STEM policy governing school science and mathematics, and tertiary level education and research in the STEM disciplines. This shift is also reflected in emerging research priorities that are most frequently conceived in STEM terms, underpinned by commitments to internationalization and multidisciplinarity. This chapter explores STEM policies and programs from an international perspective extending from the Anglosphere, East Asia, Western Europe and Latin America to the Middle East. We identify discernible trends and parallels regarding government STEM policy and structural responses, school and tertiary level STEM education participation, comparative performance measured by international assessments such as PISA and TIMMS, STEM research and innovation, and issues concerning gender and under-represented groups. The chapter examines various programs and solutions including school-level curriculum and pedagogy reform to enhance science and mathematics participation and performance, teaching-related initiatives, and strategies at the tertiary-level to redress current systemic disparities. PREVIOUS LITERATURE: Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and research are increasingly recognized globally as fundamental to national development and productivity, economic competitiveness and societal wellbeing (Marginson et al., 2013). There has been a global turn to STEM (Freeman, Marginson & Tytler, 2015) that is clearly evident in government efforts worldwide to elaborate STEM policy governing school science and mathematics, and tertiary level education and research in the STEM disciplines. In recent years awareness of the ubiquity and impact of technology has grown as the influence of artificial intelligence, automation and big data on the world of work is imagined, and increasingly realized. CONTEXT OF THE STUDY: This chapter discusses the findings of the STEM: Country Comparisons project initiated by Australia’s Chief Scientist, and funded by the Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA). The project commissioned 23 reports that investigated attitudes towards STEM, the perceived relevance of STEM to economic growth and wellbeing, patterns of STEM provision in school and tertiary education, student uptake of STEM programs, factors affecting student performance and motivation, and strategies, policies and programs to enhance STEM. Country and regional reports spanned the Anglosphere (United States, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Australia), Europe (Western Europe, Finland, France, Portugal, Russia), Asia (China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, South Korea), Latin America (Argentina, Brazil), the Middle East (Israel), and South Africa. The project also commissioned a small number of special interest 1 * Brigid Freeman, University of Melbourne ** Simon Marginson, Institute of Education, University College London *** Russell Tytler, Deakin University reports focused on Indigenous peoples and STEM, the Australian labour market, gender and ‘identity’ and international agencies involved in international assessments and reporting. The project was overseen by an expert working group comprising fellows of Australia’s learned academies.