literature review stem education

A systematic literature review of STEAM education in the last decade

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Irwanto Irwanto , Lintang Rizkyta Ananda; A systematic literature review of STEAM education in the last decade. AIP Conf. Proc. 12 January 2024; 2982 (1): 040020. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0182945

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This literature review aims to provide and analyze an overview of STEAM research from 2011 to October 2021. The Springer database identifies the journal articles. This study used a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) [1] with a prismatic flow diagram that can show inclusion activities and data search results [2]. There are 470 articles spread across 12 sub-disciplines, and after each paper from all the documents has been double-checked, 124 articles have met the inclusion criteria and were selected for review. The result obtained from the STEAM research articles has progressed from time to time. Of 72 articles analyzed, the most productive journal name is the International Journal of STEM Education, with the United States of America as the first rank of publishing STEAM research articles. The qualitative research method is the most widely used in STEAM research, with the most research instrument using semi-structured interviews. The effect of research articles has a 99% positive impact on the research. It can include more aspects and articles to analyze and should be able to take advantage of a longer period in conducting literature studies in the future.

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The gender gap in higher STEM studies: A systematic literature review

Sonia verdugo-castro.

a GRIAL Research Group, Department of Didactics, Organization and Research Methods, Research Institute for Educational Sciences, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

Alicia García-Holgado

b GRIAL Research Group, Computer Science Department, Research Institute for Educational Sciences, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

Mª Cruz Sánchez-Gómez

c GRIAL Research Group, Department of Didactics, Organization and Research Methods, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

Associated Data

Data associated with this study has been deposited at Verdugo-Castro, S., García-Holgado, A., & Sánchez-Gómez, M. C (2021). Code repository that supports the research presented in the paper ‘The gender gap in higher.

STEM studies: A Systematic Literature Review’ (v1.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://zenodo.org/record/5775211 .

The development of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) requires more qualified professionals in these fields. However, gender segregation in higher education in this sector is creating a gender gap that means that for some disciplines female representation does not even reach 30% of the total. In order to propose measures to address the phenomenon, it is necessary to understand the possible causes of this issue.

A systematic literature review and mapping were carried out for the study, following the PRISMA guidelines and flowchart. The research questions to be answered were (RQ1) What studies exist on the gender gap in relation to the choice of higher education in the STEM field; and (RQ2) How do gender roles and stereotypes influence decision-making related to higher education? The review of peer-reviewed scientific articles, conferences texts, books and book chapters on the European education area was applied. A total of 4571 initial results were obtained and, after the process marked by the PRISMA flowchart, the final results were reduced to 26. The results revealed that gender stereotypes are strong drivers of the gender gap in general, and the Leaky Pipeline and Stereotype Threat in particular. To narrow the gender gap, it is necessary to focus on influences from the family, the educational environment, and the peer group, as well as from the culture itself. Positive self-concept, self-efficacy, self-confidence, and self-perception need to be fostered, so that the individual chooses their studies according to their goals.

Gender gap; STEM; Gender; Stereotypes; Diversity; Higher education.

1. Introduction

The science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) field is experiencing a shortage of skilled workers ( Codiroli Mcmaster, 2017 ), yet it is experiencing a great deal of technological development ( Winterbotham, 2014 ). In addition, the STEM education sector suffers from under-representation of gender diversity, namely of women ( García-Holgado et al., 2019a , García-Holgado et al., 2019b , García-Holgado et al., 2019c ; Jacobs et al., 2017 ). This situation invites reflection on the cause of gender segregation in scientific and technical higher education.

With regard to motivation as a vector for deciding which higher education studies to pursue, studies have been published, such as that of Guo et al. (2018) , in which it is pointed out that women prefer to opt for professions related to people, their care and education, while men prefer to opt for the fields of things. However, beyond the simple explanation of what they prefer, it is necessary to detect what modifies and conditions the motivation, and therefore the final decision.

Gender stereotypes in the STEM education sector are related to Stereotype Threat ( Corbett and Hill, 2015 ) and the Leaky Pipeline, which lead to the loss of equal representation in the sector.

Stereotype Threat is a social phenomenon that occurs when the person concerned fears confirmation of the negative stereotyping of the group to which they belong ( Cheryan et al., 2017 ). Given that the STEM sector has been socially ascribed to men ( Blackburn, 2017 ; Nosek et al., 2009 ), women may fear rejection in the field of study and careers. One of the consequences of Stereotype Threat is when erratic stereotypical thoughts lead the affected persons to doubt their abilities, deteriorating their self-confidence, despite having optimal performance results ( Correll, 2001 ).

This situation of loss of a sense of belonging can erode women's self-efficacy ( Hall et al., 2015 ), and eventually lead to the phenomenon of the Leaky Pipeline ( Berryman, 1983 ).

Understanding the factors involved in the process of deciding which higher education studies to pursue will shed light on how to enable the retention of women ( Reiss et al., 2016 ). Such retention is essential to avoid further loss of human capital, given that female participation rates in STEM studies are worryingly low.

In addition, to combat the gender gap, the different social and cultural factors involved, as well as gender stereotypes, which, as pointed out by authors such as Bian et al. (2017) , can be observed from the age of six, must also be taken into account in the frame of reference. However, taking as a reference authors such as Ceci et al. (2014) , the need to pay attention to solid environmental influences is reaffirmed. The latter authors ( Ceci et al., 2014 ), in their study, concluded that early sex differences in spatial and mathematical reasoning do not necessarily stem from biological bases, that the gap between the average mathematical ability of females and males is narrowing, and that sex differences show variations over time and across nationalities and ethnicities. Thus, all this points to the need to pay attention to environmental and contextual factors that modulate the impact on the gender gap.

On a biological basis, there is controversy in the literature. While some authors argue that the gender gap is not biologically based ( Bian et al., 2017 ; Blackburn, 2017 ; Borsotti, 2018 ; Cantley et al., 2017 ; Codiroli Mcmaster, 2017 ), other authors do suggest that differences between men and women in career and lifestyle preferences are to some extent due to biological influences ( Stewart-Williams and Halsey, 2021 ).

Therefore, as Ceci et al. (2014) point out, gender discrimination has historically been a potential reason for the under-representation of women in scientific academic careers. Today, however, attention must also be paid to the barriers girls and women face to full participation in scientific and technical fields ( Ceci et al., 2014 ).

Although segregation does not occur in 100% of the countries in the world, there is a widespread trend of gender segregation in tertiary studies. As an example, about STEM higher education, during 2018, in France, 28,857 men (74.55%) studied tertiary Physics studies, compared to 9,850 women (25.45%). The same was true in Spain with 73.23% male representation, in Greece with 70.51% and in Austria 78.32%. In the disciplines of Mathematics and Statistics, for example, in the UK, 63.05% of the representation was male, as in France with 70.41%. And in Sweden, in Exact Mathematical Sciences 66.06% of the students were male. Also, in 2018, 81.67% of students in ICT studies in the European Union were male. For example, in Spain, 86.92% of students in Software disciplines were male. Moreover, during 2018, 73.53% of students in Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction disciplines in the European Union were male. For example, in Germany, 82.02% of Engineering students were male. And finally, 81.93% of Electronics and Automation students in Turkey were male, as was the case in Architecture with 69.07% of men ( European Institute of Gender Equality, 2018 ).

To explore the factors involved in horizontal gender segregation in the STEM education sector, a review of the existing literature is proposed through a Systematic Literature Review on the gender gap in STEM education in the European Union.

After searching and reading other reviews, it was decided to develop the Systematic Literature Review.

First, Canedo et al. (2019) address the barriers that women face in software development projects. The authors aim to find mechanisms to encourage women's interest in the field of software development projects. In turn, Gottfried et al. (2017) present a literature review on how friends and familiar social groups play a role in the likelihood that high school students do or do not pursue advanced studies in mathematics and science. Also, Wang & Degol (2013) address motivational pathways towards STEM career choices, in relation to gender; they do so using Expectancy Value Theory as a framework. Finally, Yazilitas et al. (2013) focus on micro-level and macro-level patterns linked to the unequal representation of students of both genders in STEM.

After reading the reviews, it was decided to continue with the review process of the present study, given that they did not respond to the research questions posed for the research. Canedo et al. (2019) focus their attention on software development projects; however, they do not address other STEM fields and do not propose to analyse the social, academic, and personal factors involved in segregation. On the other hand, Gottfried et al. (2017) base their study on the influence of friends and family on the decision to study mathematics and science, however, the spheres of technology and engineering are not included, and the perspective is not open to another classification of elements, such as personal and academic. Similarly, Wang & Degol (2013) propose to discover the motivations towards the choice of careers, although they do so from a psychological perspective, and the study is outdated as it was published in 2013. Finally, Yazilitas et al. (2013) also start from a psychological perspective. Nonetheless, in order to answer the research questions of the review presented here, it is necessary to take an educational perspective and not only a psychological one, because socio-educational elements are addressed.

In deciding to continue the process, the PRISMA model was used. The aim of the work was to identify what work has been or is being developed on the subject, and to understand the influence of gender stereotypes on the segregation process. The aim was to answer what are the objectives pursued in the existing studies, what are the methodologies and scientific methods used, whether specific instruments and/or data collection techniques have been used for the study of the gender gap in STEM studies, as well as what are the results obtained in the studies. Also, it aimed to know the relationship between the gender gap in STEM studies and the cultural and social patterns surrounding gender.

This paper is organised in six blocks. The first is the introduction, followed by the planning of the research in the second block (materials and methods), then the results of the mapping in the third block, and the results of the Systematic Literature Review and the discussion in the fourth block. The fifth section contains the conclusions. Finally, the sixth section describes the threats to the validity of the study.

2. Materials and methods

Systematic Literature Review (SLR) allows for the identification, evaluation and interpretation of all available research relevant to a particular research question, thematic area, or phenomenon of interest ( Kitchenham, 2004 ). The systematic literature review process is divided into three phases: planning the review, conducting the review and writing the report ( Kitchenham and Charters, 2007 ). Along with the Systematic Literature Review, a systematic mapping can be carried out, which entails the same phases as outlined above ( Petersen et al., 2015 ).

In the work presented, an SLR and a systematic mapping of the gender gap in higher education in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) sector have been carried out. In this work, the systematic mapping is presented as a complementary element to the Systematic Literature Review. The procedure followed is the PRISMA flowchart and guidelines ( Moher et al., 2009 ).

The review and mapping process was divided into a set of phases or steps. These phases range from the systematic review of other SLRs related to the gender gap in STEM higher studies–to determine the need to carry out the present study–, to the results obtained after carrying out the review. The phases followed were: (1) systematic review of other SLRs, (2) definition of the research questions for the SLR and mapping, (3) definition of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, (4) definition of the search strategy, (5) definition of the quality criteria, (6) data extraction, (7) results, and (8) data analysis and report writing.

The complete detailed explanation of each step of the systematic literature review presented in this article is contained in supplementary material 1. Each element has been detailed in supplementary material 1, simplifying the information in this document to facilitate the wording of the explanatory steps of the review.

2.1. Identifying the need for a review

Before conducting a systematic review or mapping of the literature it is necessary to examine whether there is a real need for the review. It should be determined whether a systematic review already exists that answers the research questions posed and can support the research. There is no scientific reason to conduct a systematic review or mapping that has been done before, unless there is a clear bias in the review or it is outdated and new studies have been published since the existing review was completed ( Petticrew and Roberts, 2005 ). To find out whether there are previous reviews or mappings that answer the research questions posed in the study, a search for existing systematic reviews and mappings should be conducted. For this part of the analysis, the following research question is posed: Do SLRs or mappings exist that answer the research questions of this study?

Finally, 107 documents were identified in Scopus with this equation of terms, 36 of them related to reviews and mappings. After reviewing the 36 documents, only 2 met the indicated criteria. On the other hand, in Web of Science, 49 documents were identified with the search string stated. Of the 49 documents, 9 were associated with a literature review or mapping, and, after examining the documents, only 2 met the criteria. Of the four final articles, one of them followed the SLR methodology, one of them partially followed the SLR methodology and the other two did not follow the SLR methodology.

From the review of the four final papers, it was concluded that none of them answered the research questions that were posed for this study. This is because they focus on other elements related to the gender gap ( Canedo et al., 2019 ; Gottfried et al., 2017 ), in addition to the fact that two of them are outdated, as they are publications from 2013 ( Wang and Degol, 2013 ; Yazilitas et al., 2013 ). Nine years have passed since 2013, which means almost a decade left unaddressed in these reviews.

Detailed information on this section of the systematic literature review and on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, search strategy, search strings, and criteria for quality assessment can be found in supplementary material 1.

2.2. Research questions

Once the actual need to carry out the SLR of the present study was determined, the process began. The first phase was to review the research questions and the mapping questions. First, two research questions (RQ) were defined:

• • RQ1: What studies exist on the gender gap in relation to the choice of higher education in the STEM field?
• • RQ2: How do gender roles and stereotypes influence decision-making related to higher education?

Secondly, eight mapping questions (MQ) have been defined:

• • MQ1: Which databases publish studies in relation to the gender gap in the STEM education sector?
• • MQ2: Which keywords are applied in the studies?
• • MQ3: How are the studies distributed per year?
• • MQ4: What kind of methodologies and methods do the studies apply?
• • MQ5: In which countries do the studies take place?
• • MQ6: With which population are the studies conducted?
• • MQ7: What instruments or data collection techniques have been validated?
• • MQ8: What kind of data collection instruments or techniques are used?

Based on the research questions defined, the PICOC method proposed by Petticrew and Roberts (2005) was used to define the scope of the review:

• • Population: Gender gap in the STEM sector.
• • Intervention: Studies conducted, and proposals related to the gender gap in the STEM education sector
• • Comparison: No comparison.
• • Outcomes: Results of studies conducted in relation to the gender gap in the STEM education sector.
• • Context: Students integrated in the European educational field, especially in the STEM sector, with a special focus on EQF levels 5, 6, 7, and 8 (European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning).

Universal human factors condition the gender gap in STEM higher education. Since as known from the scientifically accepted SCCT model of Lent et al. (1994) , motivations and outcome expectations condition the decision on which higher education studies to pursue. However, the gender gap is not only influenced by intrinsic factors but also by extrinsic elements. Cultural patterns marked by stereotypes and gender roles present themselves differently, depending on the local culture ( Bourdieu, 1980a , 1980b , 1984 ). Since the gender gap is a sociological phenomenon that responds to socio-cultural rules, the gender gap index does not occur equally in all world geographical regions ( García-Holgado et al., 2019c ; World Economic Forum, 2021 ).

In this sense, it is of scientific interest to analyse the gender gap in developed geographical areas which implement measures to alleviate segregation where the gap is manifest. For this purpose, global gender gap reports have been consulted to determine the gender gap index situation in the different world regions.

According to the World Economic Forum (2021) , each country is in a particular situation concerning closing the gender gap. According to the World Economic Forum (2021) , the geographical areas of Eastern Europe and Western Europe are in a worse situation in terms of closing the gender gap than areas of North America such as Canada and the United States. In the global ranking of gender gap indices, updated to 2021, Canada ranks 24th out of 156, and the United States ranks 30th out of 156. In 2021 Canada closed 77% of the gender gap and the United States 76%. Meanwhile, other Eastern and Western European countries are in less favourable positions. In 2021 Hungary was ranked 99 out of 156, with 69% of the gender gap closed; Greece was ranked 98 out of 156, with 69% of the gender gap closed; Romania was ranked 88 out of 156, with 70% of the gender gap closed; Malta was ranked 84 (70%); the Czech Republic ranked 78th (71%); the Slovak Republic ranked 77th (71%); Poland ranked 75th (71%); Italy ranked 63rd (72%); Luxembourg ranked 55th (73%); Estonia ranked 46th (73%); Croatia ranked 45th (73%); Slovenia ranked 41st (74%), and Bulgaria ranked 38th (75%).

Also addressing gender segregation in the vertical sense, according to the World Economic Forum (2021) , the low presence of women in top positions demonstrates the persistence of a “Glass Ceiling” even in some of the most advanced economies. While in the United States women occupy the 42% of senior and management positions, in other countries such as Sweden they occupy the 40%, in the United Kingdom the 36.8%, in France the 34.6%, in Germany the 29%, in Italy and the Netherlands the 27%.

On the other hand, as far as the gender pay gap is concerned, developed countries still have a gap to close, e.g., France has 39% of the gap to close, Denmark has 38% of the gap to close, while the United States has 35% of the gap to close.

Therefore, given the results of the reports, it has been decided to analyse the scientific production on the gender gap in higher STEM studies in the European Union. Although it is a geographical area that is on the way to reducing the gender gap, there are still high rates to be closed.

2.3. Data mining

Regarding the data extraction, the metadata of the publications obtained from the search was downloaded from the databases in CSV format. The raw datasets are available in Zenodo ( Verdugo-Castro et al., 2021 ). The phases of defining the protocol, searching and extracting the initial data from the databases were carried out by all the authors of this publication. The search results are current as of 10 November 2021. Subsequent filtering of the successive phases was done by peer review among the authors. The data mining process is an iterative and incremental process. The process was done through different phases ( Figure 1 ). The process is described through the PRISMA flowchart ( Moher et al., 2009 ).

PRISMA flowchart of the Systematic Literature Review. Source: Created by the authors.

First, the results were identified, following the application of search strings in the two selected databases. The results of the databases were downloaded in CSV format. Then, all results were organised in a spreadsheet in Google Sheets. The spreadsheet was configured to automatically detect duplicate titles to facilitate their search and removal. After removing the duplicate items, the data extraction stages began with the application of different filters ( http://bit.ly/3a4gRM5 ).

• • First stage: On a second sheet of Google Sheets, three items were analysed to see if the publication was related to the study objective and the research questions. This phase allowed us to define the candidates for reading. These three elements were the title, the abstract and the keywords ( http://bit.ly/39lO0DX ).
• • Second stage: The documents resulting from the previous phase were then dumped onto a third sheet. On this third sheet of Google Sheets, the inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. To proceed to the next stage, each publication had to meet all the inclusion criteria ( http://bit.ly/39lO0DX ).

During the first phase, 2794 items were removed, and during the second phase, 698 items were removed. A total of 3492 items were eliminated between the first and second phases. The reasons for discarding these publications were:

• o The publication's subject matter did not have a clear relationship to the gender gap in the STEM education sector.
• o The study addressed the gender gap in STEM fields at the employment or business level but, not in the educational field.
• o The study addressed gender segregation in education, but from the perspective of female teachers, not female students.
• o The study addressed educational elements not related to the gender gap. For example, academic performance and grades.
• o The research was not carried out in European Union countries or regions.
• o The publication was not open access or available through University of Salamanca databases subscriptions.
• • Third stage: The third stage of the process focused on the eligibility of publications. The publications selected in the previous stage were read again. This time they were read with the aim of answering the quality questions ( http://bit.ly/36fnBpi ). In total, there were 10 questions, each of which was answered with one of the following options: yes (1), no (0), partial (0.5). Each answer corresponded to a score, so that the sum of the answers gave each paper a score between 0 and 10. Those papers with a score equal to or higher than 6 were selected for the final stage.

At the quality stage, 196 items were discarded if they did not reach the minimum cut-off score of 6. While all publications were related to the gender gap in the STEM education sector in an EU country or region, the reasons for exclusion were as follows:

• o The objectives of the publication were not clearly aligned with the gender gap in STEM. In some cases, the approach to segregation was collateral and superficial.
• o Some research did not propose methodological approaches of interest at qualitative, quantitative or mixed levels.
• o Other research did not propose intervention proposals (four of the ten quality questions are linked to socio-educational proposals).
• o Some studies do not take into account the limitations encountered throughout the research.
• o The publication does not answer at least one of the two SLR research questions.

Finally, 26 items made it to the final phase. Each selected paper was analysed in detail to obtain the answers to the research and mapping questions.

3. Results of the systematic mapping

The results to the systematic mapping questions are presented below.

3.1. MQ1: which databases publish studies in relation to the gender gap in the STEM education sector?

About three quarters of the publications are indexed in Scopus, compared to 23% of those indexed in Web of Science.

3.2. MQ2: which keywords are applied in the studies?

As presented in Table 1 , the most frequently used keywords are gender, STEM, and stereotypes.

Table 1

Results to the MQ2.

3.3. MQ3: how are the studies distributed by year?

As shown in Figure 2 , the years with the highest number of publications are 2018 and 2017.

Results to the MQ3.

3.4. MQ4: what kind of methodologies and methods do the studies use?

It can be seen from Figure 3 that there is a preponderance of studies based on quantitative paradigms, although qualitative designs and mixed approaches are emerging. Complete information on this question can be found in Table 1 of Supplementary Material 2 linked to this article.

Results to the MQ4.

3.5. MQ5: in which countries are the studies carried out?

As presented in Figure 4 and 9 studies were carried out in Germany; 5 in Spain, 3 in the UK and Ireland, 2 in areas such as Italy, Portugal, Denmark, Belgium and Finland, and only one study in other regions, such as Slovenia, Norway, Scotland, Latvia, Estonia and the Czech Republic.

Results to the MQ5.

3.6. MQ6: with which population are the studies conducted?

As shown in Figure 5 , the samples with which the studies have been carried out are primarily university students and secondary school students. Studies have also been carried out with primary school students and secondary school and university students. Finally, in one study, there have been samples of primary, secondary, and university education; and in another study, the sample has been female graduates.

Results to the MQ6.

Complete information on this question can be found in Table 2 of Supplementary Material 2 linked to this article.

Table 2

Results for the MQ7 and MQ8.

3.7. MQ7: what data collection instruments or techniques have been validated? And MQ8: what kind of data collection instruments or techniques are proposed?

Table 2 provides information on what kind of techniques or instruments have been used to collect the data and which of them have been validated.

4. Results of the systematic literature review and discussion

The qualitative analysis of the resulting papers in the systematic literature review has been organised into two main blocks (4.1. and 4.2.). Since there are two research questions to be answered for SLR, the first research question is answered in the first block (4.1. IQ1: What studies exist on the gender gap in relation to the choice of higher education in the STEM field?), and the second block answers the second research question (4.2. IQ2: How do gender roles and stereotypes influence decision-making related to higher education?).

In turn, a grouping strategy has been followed to classify the results thematically and facilitate their understanding. After reading all of them, the main themes studied in the papers were identified as categories, and the results of the papers were organised based on these categories. Finally, eight main themes have been identified, four to answer the first research question and four to answer the second SLR research question.

In the first block, in which the first SLR research question is answered, the main themes are Socio-educational projects and proposals (4.1.1.), study of gender differences (4.1.2.), initiatives in secondary and university education (4.1.3.) and Active methodologies and intervention initiatives (4.1.4.). On the other hand, in the second block, in which the second research question of the SLR is answered, the main topics are Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) and early intervention (4.2.1.), educational institutions and the learning process (4.2.2.), perceptions of male-dominated domains (4.2.3.) and social structures and contextual influences (4.2.4.).

The first research question addresses what studies exist on the gender gap in relation to the choice of higher education in the STEM field. In this sense, it is possible to identify studies on gender differences, socio-educational proposals, and initiatives that can be organised by educational levels, in this case, secondary and university, and also by typology, active methodologies, and intervention initiatives.

On the other hand, the second question addresses how gender roles and stereotypes influence decision-making related to higher education. In this line, the SCCT model ( Lent et al., 1994 ) explains the relationship between social stereotypes and the decision taken. However, the question can also be answered regarding the influence of education as an institution, social and contextual influences, and the perception of socially androcentric spaces.

Figure 6 visually presents the main ideas of the results for the two research questions.

Main ideas of the results for the two research questions.

4.1. IQ1: what studies exist on the gender gap in relation to the choice of higher education in the STEM field?

4.1.1. socio-educational projects and proposals.

The IRIS project, Interests and Recruitment in Science, arises to study the factors that determine young people's choices ( Henriksen et al., 2015 ). The aim is to gain a better understanding of how young people evaluate STEM as an option for their educational choices, as achievement in science and technology is only one of many factors that influence their choices.

In terms of specific intervention groups, Heybach and Pickup (2017) allude to a socio-educational approach in the UK. A group called STEMettes ( STEMettes, 2021 ) is working to combat what they consider to be a culture in which girls do not imagine women doing "science stuff" while they are mothers.

In the framework of project design for the improvement of diversity and gender inclusion, there are different technology companies that follow a gender perspective trend, such as LinkedIn, Salesforce, Intel, Google, Microsoft and IBM. In this line, Peixoto et al. (2018) propose an initiative based on robotics, as an inclusive tool, to combat the gender gap.

Also, the Girls4STEM project led by the School of Engineering of the University of Valencia (ETSE-UV) in Spain aims to increase and retain the number of female students, applying its intervention with students aged 6 to 18, their families and teachers ( López-Iñesta et al., 2020 ).

Another project worth mentioning is 'Increasing Gender Diversity in STEM' ( Ballatore et al., 2020 ). The aim is to investigate the gender difference in the self-perception of female students about their career choice. In order to find out the self-perception, a web application for students called ANNA tool was designed and used.

Finally, the project Science and Technology as Feminine, promoted by the Spanish Association of Science and Technology Parks (APTE), aims to raise awareness of the under-representation of women in STEM fields and promote girls' inclusion in scientific and technical careers ( Davila Dos Santos et al., 2021 ).

4.1.2. Study of gender differences

From the study by Kang et al. (2019) it was found that during the transition period from primary to secondary school there were gender differences in relation to interest in and preferences for science subjects, and in relation to future career prospects. Preferences were mostly in biology for girls and physics and chemistry for boys. Furthermore, it was concluded that teachers are agents of change involved in the educational process, so it is necessary for them to take care of the material they use and the way they communicate with students. Perhaps by conveying to girls the fact that science careers can respect people's personal time, they might retain their interest in science.

Also, an element to pay attention to is self-efficacy and, for this, Brauner et al. (2018) work from mental models. The study was carried out in Germany and a socio-educational approach was proposed, in which the subjects were participants in robotics courses to increase vocational interests and interest in computer science. From the results it can be concluded that the participants drew predominantly male STEM people in rather isolated situations. The people drawn are perceived to look nerdy , although they are also perceived as quite attractive and intelligent. Even so, the mood of the people in the pictures was perceived as slightly negative. It was concluded that girls reported significantly lower levels of technical self-efficacy and lower interest in computer science than boys. However, it is of deep concern that this effect emerges so early and can be measured empirically at the age of 11 or 12 years. The study by Brauner et al. (2018) shows that gender differences with respect to mental models, self-efficacy and interest have already developed by the age of 12.

Furthermore, in the line of socio-educational applications, the research by Wulff et al. (2018) is based on the performance of the Physics Olympiad in Germany in 2015. The aim was to generate motivation in young men and women in the field of physics. To this end, the aim was to develop physical identity for both men and women. After the Olympiad, the return rate for the following year for female participants was 60% (62% for males), while the return rate for non-participating females was 28% (39% for males).

Finally, the study by Reich-Stiebert and Eyssel (2017) tested the effect of gender-typicality of academic learning tasks on HRI (Human-Robot Interaction) and showed that the gender of the robot had no influence on the participants' objective learning performance. That is, participants' learning was neither positively nor negatively affected by learning with a "male" or "female" robot. This fact could be exploited to reduce gender-related performance disparities and contribute to equal opportunities for male and female students in higher education.

4.1.3. Initiatives in secondary and university education

One innovation introduced by the education system is presented in the study by Görlitz and Gravert (2018) . It analyses the potential of redesigning the secondary school curriculum in Germany to achieve increased enrolments in higher STEM degrees. The results suggest a positive and robust increase in the likelihood of choosing STEM as a university major for males, although there is no effect for females. One cause could be the acquired roles of men and women.

Another proposal in Germany is that of Finzel et al. (2018) , who aim to motivate secondary school female students to consider Computer Science as a possible option. The latest measure has been the introduction of the make IT mentoring programme in 2014. The programme was designed to provide female students with information about Computer Science and to include measures that consider self-concept and gender stereotypes correlated with a negative image of women in Computer Science. Within make IT , participants should be supported to achieve a more realistic self-assessment and positive feedback of their own abilities.

In addition, Ertl et al. (2017) work on self-concept. From their research they conclude that students who reported a higher number of favourite STEM subjects at school have a higher self-concept, while higher levels of school support and teacher stereotyping indicate a lower and less positive self-concept in STEM. Regarding the impact of stereotypes, STEM female students mentioned that they were pursuing an atypical career path and that their social environment was surprised by this type of career choice.

4.1.4. Active methodologies and intervention initiatives

Continuing with the proposals, mentoring is proposed as a measure to reduce the gender gap in STEM. Stoeger, Hopp, et al. (2017) conducted their study in Germany and aimed to compare the effectiveness of individual versus group online mentoring in STEM. This was done within the framework of CyberMentor , an online mentoring programme in STEM for gifted girls designed to increase participation rates of talented girls in STEM. In terms of results, the proportion of communication about STEM topics was higher in group mentoring than in individual mentoring. Girls in group mentoring showed a higher amount of STEM-related networking compared to girls in individual mentoring. Finally, group mentoring mentees reported an increase in elective intentions in STEM, while individual mentoring mentees reported no significant differences.

In addition, to work on interest and attitudes towards mathematics, Cantley et al. (2017) work from Collaborative Cognitive Activation Strategies, and from the Izak9 resource. Following the study there was a small increase in girls' enjoyment of mathematics in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. However, boys' enjoyment increased marginally in the Republic of Ireland and decreased marginally in Northern Ireland.

In terms of attitudes, Borsotti (2018) empirically investigates the main socio-cultural barriers to female participation in the software development degree programme at the IT University of Copenhagen in Denmark (ITU). The results reveal that almost all respondents attributed the gender gap to a greater extent to the existence of stereotypes.

On outreach interventions, Sullivan et al. (2015) aim to help secondary school girls develop an optimal view of the role of computers in society and to learn some of the key computer skills, including computer programming. It examines CodePlus, a programming club based on the Bridge 21 model, which was established in three all-girls schools. Students worked together on activities including computational thinking, computers in society and programming using Scratch. The results obtained in the Sullivan et al. (2015) study are: (1) there was no gender difference in expected and actual mathematics grades, (2) boys played computer games for much longer than girls, (3) girls spent more time using computers for homework, while boys spent more time using computers to look up general non-school related information, (4) boys demonstrated significantly higher levels of self-efficacy than girls, (5) boys were also more likely to study computer science at university than girls and were more confident about being accepted into a computer science degree. The comparisons demonstrate clear differences in how girls view themselves in terms of computer science ability.

On the other hand, Salmi et al. (2016) found that after visiting science, technology and engineering exhibitions with students, girls were in a better position to decide about their future because they experienced more autonomy than boys. This study also revealed that girls had higher attitudes towards science than boys. However, for the engineering factor, boys' attitudes were significantly more positive than girls'. Motivations are also explored in the study by Olmedo-Torre et al. (2018) . In this case, they study the differences between the motivations of female STEM students, forming two groups: (1) Computing, Communications, and Electrical and Electronic Engineering studies (CCEEE women), and (2) other STEM studies (non-CCEEE women). The female respondents considered social stereotypes (31.47%) and immediate environment (14.5%) as the main reasons for the low enrolment of women in STEM studies. Surprisingly, the third reason (11.03%) is that women do not like engineering. In addition, CCEEE women were less likely than non-CCEEE women to consider themselves more able than men in physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science and graphic expression.

Also, Botella et al. (2019) aim to increase the number of female students by providing them with support, in order to prevent them from giving up in the early stages. The work programme of the School of Engineering of the University of Valencia (ETSE-UV) is organised around four main actions: (1) providing institutional encouragement and support, (2) increasing the professional support network, (3) promoting and supporting leadership and (4) increasing the visibility of female role models. Two other elements to study are identity as a scientist and scientific capital. The study by Padwick et al. (2016) is developed for this purpose within Think Physics (Northumbria University, Newcastle) ( Think Physics, 2016 ). Through collaboration with industry, agencies and schools, Think Physics ( Think Physics, 2016 ) addresses the gender imbalance and under-representation of lower socio-economic groups in the physics, engineering, and computing sectors.

Furthermore, continuing with the analysis of capital, Stoeger et al. (2017) study whether the level of educational capital and the learning capital of students are related to STEM Magnet schools. The findings show that more and more girls are choosing STEM magnet school options as part of their studies. Interestingly, however, this general trend is not followed when choosing higher STEM studies. Cincera et al. (2017) also address scientific understanding, applying a programme to enhance the acquisition of scientific skills. However, there was no significant change in either the girls' or the boys' group.

Meanwhile, the study conducted in Portugal by Martinho et al. (2015) seeks to identify gender differences with respect to cooperation and competitiveness. The results reveal that women are more cooperative than men and men are more competitive than women. Thus, one of the socially assigned gender roles is manifested.

However, the gender gap also concerns communities and industries. González-González et al. (2018) present good practices from communities and industries. Laboratorial, which has a "Talent Fest", stands out. There is also Microsoft, which offers mentoring to young women, for the development of their digital skills. Finally, there is also the Women at Google initiative, which aims to increase the presence of women in the company and encourage them to feel more empowered.

Also, Herman et al. (2019) aim to promote the re-entry into the STEM labour market of women who abandoned their careers, through a blended learning programme. The Badged Open Course (BOC) was developed in 2016 to support women returning to STEM careers after a long period of time.

Finally, as is known from the updated indices published in the latest report of the World Economic Forum (2021) , the different countries included in the rankings still have a percentage of the gender gap to close. However, given the results obtained in the systematic review of the literature, it is striking that in those countries where initiatives have been implemented to alleviate the gender gap, the gender gap continues to persist. This finding is consistent with the conclusions obtained in the study by Stoet and Geary (2018) . The authors concluded in their research that, paradoxically, countries with lower gender equality indexes had relatively more female graduates in STEM disciplines than those with higher gender equality indexes. As noted by the same authors ( Stoet and Geary, 2018 ), this finding is noteworthy since, following other authors such as Williams and Ceci (2015) , countries with higher gender equality indexes are those that offer girls and women more educational and empowerment opportunities and generally promote women's participation in STEM fields. In line with Stoet and Geary's (2018) argument, it is not only social and cultural factors that play a role, but also the individual choices and attitudes that students make, which may be influenced by other factors such as socioeconomic status. In this sense, and in agreement with other authors ( Stoet and Geary, 2018 ; M.-T. Wang and Degol, 2013 ), students should base their educational decisions on their potential, regardless of the educational field to which the decision is directed.

4.2. IQ2: how do gender roles and stereotypes influence decision-making related to higher education?

4.2.1. social cognitive career theory (scct) and early intervention.

According to Heybach and Pickup (2017) in order to suppress gender roles and stereotypes that foster the gender gap it is necessary to move away from androcentrism, and the stereotypical belief that the rational mind is male and the passive nature is female. This would move away from the binary logic, in which occupations have either a female or male profile. The STEM workforce should be empowered, preventing gender roles and stereotypes from increasing the Leaky Pipeline ( Heybach and Pickup, 2017 ). To retain girls and women, the Stereotype Threat must be lessened. Girls and women grow up thinking that they should be dedicated to caring for the family, and scientific thinking is also thought to be masculine in nature. To eradicate these erratic beliefs Heybach and Pickup (2017) propose female role models as a possible solution, in order to increase interest.

For their part, Peixoto et al. (2018) indicate that efforts to retain women and girls in STEM focus on secondary education and/or university. However, it is more relevant to work from an early age. From an early age, it is already evident that boys identify more with the concept of science than girls. Stereotypical perceptions of what STEM is lead boys to feel that scientists can be similar to them at higher rates than girls.

Kang et al. (2019) also point to boys' and girls' interests as a key element, as career aspirations may begin around the age of 11 or 12. Academic and extracurricular experiences and science education are conditioning elements. In addition, the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) points out that attention should be paid to the expectations of results, since they are a major source of interest.

Other authors who also argue the importance of addressing the gender gap from an early age are ( Brauner et al., 2018 ). They point out that self-efficacy plays an important role in decision-making. This in turn relates to the locus of control of Causal Attribution Theory. Considering that gender, ethnicity, and other distinguishing characteristics may also interfere with decision-making, one must again turn to SCCT. This theory points out that different elements need to be addressed in order to reduce segregation: self-efficacy, outcome expectations, personal goals, career interests, career path choices, performance, and perceived achievements.

However, it is not only a question of interests, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations. According to Cantley et al. (2017) attention should also be paid to attitudes. When the transition from primary to secondary school takes place, students' attitudes towards mathematics become more negative. Attitudes are influenced by interest and enjoyment. For this reason, Cantley et al. (2017) propose to work from Cognitive Activation Teaching Strategies, since they are related to the intrinsic motivation of the person.

4.2.2. Educational institutions and the learning process

Padwick et al. (2016) point out that an important and involved element is science capital. Children with higher science capital are more likely to choose higher STEM studies than those with lower science capital.

Also, Stoeger, Greindl, et al. (2017) , who report on STEM magnet schools and non-STEM magnet schools, assume that gender stereotypes can be observed at the age of six. This fact implies that STEM magnet schools could play an important role in increasing participation in STEM studies.

In this line, Salmi et al. (2016) emphasise the difficulty of changing attitudes after primary education, since they are formed at an early age. Salmi et al. (2016) focus on cognitive, motivational, and learning aspects, because motivation and attitudes precede intention. Therefore, if positive attitudes towards the STEM sector can be generated at an early age and motivational elements are introduced, a behavioural approach to science and engineering can be generated.

In terms of motivation, according to Görlitz and Gravert (2018) those who choose to take mathematics and science classes in secondary education are more likely to specialise in these areas at university.

In addition, scientific identity and agency play a role in decision-making. In accordance with Wulff et al. (2018) agency and scientific identity, tinged with social roles, are a possible source of underrepresentation. Elements such as stereotypes, lack of interest, motivation or sense of belonging may explain the underrepresentation of young women in domains such as Physics.

4.2.3. Perceptions of male-dominated domains

In the sense of identity, as Borsotti (2018) points out computer science has been socially constructed as a masculinised domain, resulting in stereotypical perceptions and beliefs, low self-efficacy on the part of women and girls, and biased assessment in STEM subjects.

To address this, according to Sullivan et al. (2015) exposure to computer science, at home or at school, and encouragement from family and peers are the main factors influencing girls' decisions to pursue higher education in computer science. Other factors include self-perception, self-confidence, self-efficacy, scientific understanding, parenting strategy, stereotypes, and biases that girls and women must combat, and the barriers girls face when working in male-dominated environments.

In this regard, Ertl et al. (2017) also consider that negative perceptions, stereotypical beliefs and Stereotype Threat reinforce dysfunctional attribution patterns, which ultimately lead to a lower proportion of women, especially in the areas of technology and engineering. The authors also focus on self-concept as a key element to avoid the gender gap, based on Expectancy-Value Theory.

4.2.4. Social structures and contextual influences

Olmedo-Torre et al. (2018) insist on the relevance of the perception of the immediate environment. It is important to involve families and teachers in the search for a solution. According to Botella et al. (2019) gender roles and patterns and stereotypes installed in the family and in society about relevant careers for both men and women have an impact on the future education of boys and girls, and on their career choices. There are proposals to address these obstacles, such as the promotion of female role models in STEM fields, academic counselling, teacher mentoring, internship opportunities and career and skills development.

Furthermore, picking up on the idea of mentoring, according to Finzel et al. (2018) the probability of choosing higher studies in computer science is lower for women than for men. However, the low proportion is not due to a lack of competence of female students, as they are not less qualified. Instead, the presence of gender stereotypes and the absence of female role models are possible reasons for the low representation of women in computer science. Therefore, mentoring programmes are proposed to encourage the development of higher education in STEM.

In terms of real-world initiatives, Reich-Stiebert and Eyssel (2017) propose an intervention with robots. They aim to investigate whether "female" gendered robots could effectively support learning in STEM disciplines, and whether "male" gendered robots could support learning in linguistic and literary studies. After conducting the study, it can be concluded that the female agent tends to be more effective regardless of the gender of the participants.

Moreover, Henriksen et al. (2015) indicate that the challenge for future research is to further explore the social structures, discourses, curricular components, etc., that impede women's participation in the fields of science, where they have so far had only a small representation.

In addition to all of the above, the educational factor leads to the employment factor. According to González-González et al. (2018) , the problem of educational segregation extends to professional life. Finally, Cincera et al. (2017) point out that an optimal response to segregation is to encourage interactive learning through multimedia applications, in order to attract students' attention to science.

5. Conclusions

5.1. methodologies and methods and population groups.

According to the literature, the methodologies and methods that can be applied in gender gap studies in the STEM education sector may differ. Mixed models ( Herman et al., 2019 ; Padwick et al., 2016 ) and multi-method approaches ( Borsotti, 2018 ; Brauner et al., 2018 ; Ertl et al., 2017b ; Finzel et al., 2018 ; Henriksen et al., 2015 ; Olmedo-Torre et al., 2018 ) can be used. Quantitative studies ( Cantley et al., 2017 ; Cincera et al., 2017 ; Görlitz and Gravert, 2018 ; Kang et al., 2019 ; Reich-Stiebert and Eyssel, 2017 ; Salmi et al., 2016 ; Stoeger et al., 2017 ; Stoeger et al., 2017 ; Sullivan et al., 2015 ; Wulff et al., 2018 ), or qualitative studies ( Botella et al., 2019 ; Martinho et al., 2015 ) can also be applied. On the other hand, another type of study is based on the review of initiatives ( González-González et al., 2018 ; Heybach and Pickup, 2017 ; Peixoto et al., 2018 ).

However, what is most interesting is to know which population groups are of scientific interest in investigating this topic of study. The literature reveals that it is of interest to investigate from early ages to the working stages ( González-González et al., 2018 ; Herman et al., 2019 ) through primary education ( Padwick et al., 2016 ; Salmi et al., 2016 ; Sullivan et al., 2015 ), secondary ( Brauner et al., 2018 ; Cincera et al., 2017 ; Kang et al., 2019 ; Wulff et al., 2018 ) and university ( Ertl et al., 2017b ; Henriksen et al., 2015 ; Martinho et al., 2015 ; Olmedo-Torre et al., 2018 ; Reich-Stiebert and Eyssel, 2017 ; Stoeger et al., 2017 ). Moreover, as revealed in the literature, it is not only interesting to focus on one age group. Research can be conducted with students and women who are at different stages of their educational trajectory ( Botella et al., 2019 ; Cantley et al., 2017 ; Finzel et al., 2018 ; Görlitz and Gravert, 2018 ; Stoeger et al., 2017 ), such as students in primary, secondary and university education simultaneously.

5.2. Measurement and assessment resources

It is helpful to know what resources can be used to carry out studies in which the gender gap in the STEM education sector is studied and measured. Among the resources are gender gap measurement and assessment tools. After consulting the literature, it is noted that some instruments are aimed at detecting scientific identity, such as the Aspires Questionnaire ( Padwick et al., 2016 ). There are also instruments for measuring attitudes towards science, such as: Deci-Ryan motivation, Situation motivation test, Science attitudes, Future educational plans, Raven test, Knowledge test and School achievement ( Salmi et al., 2016 ).

On the other hand, Sullivan et al. (2015) have used an adaptation of the Papastergiou questionnaire to measure perceptions and self-efficacy concerning Computer Science. Along the lines of motivation, the Aiken Scale ( Cantley et al., 2017 ) is helpful and validated for measuring interest in mathematics. In addition, Wulff et al. (2018) , who conducted a Physics Olympiad, used: Content interest physics and Situational interest, for the measurement of interest. In the context of the IRIS project, Henriksen et al. (2015) used the validated IRIS Q questionnaire.

However, not all possible resources are quantitative instruments. Focus groups ( Henriksen et al., 2015 ) and qualitative interviews ( Borsotti, 2018 ; Martinho et al., 2015 ) can also be applied to approach knowledge through discourses. Another qualitative strategy is analysing through drawings ( Brauner et al., 2018 ).

Cincera et al. (2017) used the SEI Questionnaire to close the reflection on data collection resources adapted from the NoS instrument. Kang et al. (2019) validated an instrument based on PRiSE and PISA within the MultiCO project. Olmedo-Torre et al. (2018) applied the validated survey "Survey for engineering students and graduates", collecting quantitative and qualitative data. Finally, Stoeger et al. (2017) applied the Questionnaire of Educational and Learning Capital (QELC) to analyse educational and learning capital.

5.3. Possible initiatives

On the other hand, another of the original contributions of this work is the systematisation of possible initiatives to implement aimed at closing the gender gap in the STEM education sector. In this sense, Peixoto et al. (2018) propose an initiative based on robotics as an inclusive and motivational measure to encourage interest from the school stage. Along the same lines, Sullivan et al. (2015) carried out outreach interventions through programming in secondary education.

In terms of proposals that worked positively in the studies, to boost interest and motivation in physics from secondary education, Wulff et al. (2018) applied a Physics Olympiad with boys and girls. Continuing also in the context of secondary education, a proposal that has generated positive effects is the redesign of the curriculum to promote STEM disciplines ( Görlitz and Gravert, 2018 ). Also, to motivate female secondary school students to consider Computer Science as a possible field of study, Finzel et al. (2018) conducted a mentoring programme called make IT. In the same line, Stoeger et al. (2017) conducted a mentoring-based study within the context of the CyberMentor programme.

Using different methodologies, Cantley et al. (2017) promoted the enjoyment of mathematics through Collaborative Cognitive Activation Strategies.

In the university environment, the School of Engineering of the University of Valencia (ETSE-UV) promotes actions to increase the number of female students ( Botella et al., 2019 ). The actions are institutional support, increasing the support network, promoting leadership, and promoting female role models.

Finally, initiatives should not only be promoted in schools and universities. As advocated by González-González et al. (2018) , communities and businesses should also promote good practices. Finally, along the same lines, Herman et al. (2019) promote the re-entry of STEM women into the labour market through a Blended Learning programme.

In this way, it is concluded that it is worth investing resources and efforts in proposals based on scope interventions. According to the professional or training stage, applying one type of initiative or another will be more appropriate, as has been seen among those discussed above.

5.4. Impact of stereotypes

Measures and interventions could combat the effects of segregation, including the "Leaky Pipeline" phenomenon and the Stereotype Threat. These stereotypes are perpetuated over time. One of the socially acquired roles is that of family care for women, as demonstrated by Weisgram and Diekman (2015) .

However, it is inappropriate to think that intervention measures should focus exclusively on women and girls. The gender gap is a system-wide problem. Education, business and society, and family and social actors are indispensable elements to be mentioned ( Craig et al., 2019 ; Fisher and Margolis, 2003 ; Lehman et al., 2017 ; Sax et al., 2017 ). However, it remains striking that initiatives heavily target women and girls.

The scientific vocation is considerably affected by stereotypes. These stereotypes must be fought to deconstruct them. Investing efforts to close the gender gap should not be a matter of quotas or public image. As presented in a study by the Harvard Business Review ( Hewlett et al., 2013 ), organisations that have a more diverse and inclusive workforce tend to be more innovative and experience greater market growth than companies that do not adopt such a philosophy.

However, action should not be delayed until secondary or university education. Authors such as Kang et al. (2019) –and accordance with Nurmi (2005) – confirm that career aspirations begin at the age of 11–12 years. Therefore, it is necessary to act from an early age, as supported by Brauner et al. (2010) , Miller et al. (2018) and Wang (2013) .

In this sense, girls generally prefer more family and contact-oriented occupations than boys, as Konrad et al. (2000) point out. Thus, women have continuously shown less interest in science and STEM occupations, especially in engineering ( Ceci and Williams, 2010 ; Diekman et al., 2010 ).

In addition to personal goals, outcome expectations and interests, other constructs such as self-concept, motivation, attitudes, performance, and self-efficacy should be addressed. By enhancing scientific and confident identity and self-confidence in the discipline, positive self-knowledge can be enhanced. Moreover, if people have gains in agency ( Bandura, 1977 ), they will feel more prepared to engage in what they really want to do.

5.5. Other segregation types

Finally, while the work presented in this paper focuses on horizontal segregation in women's entry and persistence in STEM fields, horizontal segregation is not the only form of segregation that exists. It is also essential to recognise the existence and impact of vertical segregation ( Corbett and Hill, 2015 ). The latter type prevents or hinders promotion within the field, resulting in the Glass Ceiling phenomenon. Vertical segregation manifests mainly in the labour sector once women are immersed in the labour market. This phenomenon occurs because of the obstacles and barriers women face that make it difficult to progress at the same rate as their male counterparts ( Cotter et al., 2001 ; de Welde and Laursen, 2011 ; Zeng, 2011 ). When the Glass Ceiling occurs in the academic and scientific space, it is accompanied by the Scissors Effect ( Wood, 2009 ).

Perceived barriers include the lack of female role models and references, gender bias, hostile work environment, lack of natural work-family balance, unequal growth opportunities based on gender, and the gender pay gap ( Botella et al., 2019 ; ISACA, 2017 ).

As can be seen, the two types of segregation, vertical and horizontal, share a common trigger: perceived barriers in the environment and context. For this reason, it is essential to work on these barriers to reduce them until they are eradicated.

6. Threats to the validity of the study

The systematic review and mapping presented in this paper, just like any other research method, may suffer from threats to its validity, as well as some limitations. Two categories of threats are identified: construct validity and validity of conclusions.

To preserve the validity of the construct, a series of measures were applied to maintain the objectivity of the results. These measures were: to review previous SLRs to confirm the need to carry out the presented study, and to follow systematised and documented phases marked by inclusion, exclusion, and quality criteria, with the ultimate aim of mitigating possible biases. On the other hand, although a search protocol has been defined, this does not guarantee that all publications related to the subject are included. In order to weigh up this threat, searches have been carried out in the two main research databases, namely Web of Science and Scopus.

In addition, for the validity of the conclusions, the data extraction process has been described step by step and documented by means of different spreadsheets which are available from the links: http://bit.ly/3a4gRM5 , http://bit.ly/39lO0DX and http://bit.ly/36fnBpi .

The main limitation encountered in the research was the initial management of the large volume of results obtained from the equation of terms. The initial starting point was 4571 results, which meant that the start of the process took longer than desired.

Finally, as a future prospect, it is proposed to make systematic updates of the literature presented, with the aim of identifying new proposals for intervention, as well as methodological approaches to the factors influencing the gender gap.

Declarations

Author contribution statement.

All authors listed have significantly contributed to the development and the writing of this article.

Funding statement

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades under a FPU fellowship (FPU017/01252). This work has been possible with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union in its Key Action 2 "Capacity-building in Higher Education". Project W-STEM "Building the future of Latin America: engaging women into STEM" (Reference number 598923-EPP-1-2018-1-ES-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP). The content of this publication does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in the publication lies entirely with the authors.

Data availability statement

Declaration of interest's statement.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

No additional information is available for this paper.

Acknowledgements

This research work has been carried out within the PhD Programme of the University of Salamanca in the field of Education in the Knowledge Society ( http://knowledgesociety.usal.es ), and this research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities with a grant for the training of University Teachers (FPU017/01252). Also, the authors would like to thank Elena P. Hernández Rivero (Language Centre-USAL) for translation support.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

The following is the supplementary data related to this article:

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The use of ultrasonography in education for undergraduate nursing students: A literature review

Affiliations.

• 1 School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan.
• 2 Department of Nursing, University of Miyazaki Hospital, Miyazaki, Japan.
• 3 Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan.
• PMID: 38527918
• DOI: 10.1111/jjns.12596

Aim: The incorporation of ultrasonography into nursing practice is becoming more common, but how ultrasonography is used or applied in nursing student education is still unclear. This study aimed to review and synthesize relevant literature on the use of ultrasonography in education for undergraduate nursing students.

Methods: An electronic literature search was conducted in June 2022 (updated in June 2023) using MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, and Ichushi-Web databases. Two researchers independently screened/assessed the eligibility of the studies, synthesized extracted data using a narrative synthesis (due to anticipated heterogeneity across studies), and evaluated the methodological quality of quantitative studies using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument.

Results: Thirteen peer-reviewed articles were included in the review. All of the studies were conducted in high-income countries, and the majority of them employed an uncontrolled single-group design. Ultrasonography was used mainly for visualizing the vascular system to improve students' puncture skills, but it was also used with various other applications. The included studies were predominantly of moderate quality and heterogeneous, but all of them reported at least some benefits in nursing student education, such as enhancing knowledge and understanding of subcutaneous anatomical structures, and improving confidence in and/or skills of venipuncture and other visualization/assessment methods.

Conclusions: This review provides a broad perspective and highlights the potential use of ultrasonography in education for undergraduate nursing students. Further research is needed to develop standardized teaching methods/curriculum and competency assessments in order to ensure minimum competency standards for students and to improve clinical outcomes for patients.

Keywords: literature review; nursing education; nursing students; ultrasonography; undergraduate nursing students.

© 2024 Japan Academy of Nursing Science.

Publication types

A systematic review of inclusive pedagogical research using the CIRTL inclusive pedagogy framework: multi-disciplinary and STEM perspectives, current trends and a research agenda

• Open access
• Published: 25 March 2024
• Volume 3 , article number  30 , ( 2024 )

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• Angela G. Jackson-Summers 1 ,
• Karina L. Mrakovcich 2 ,
• Joshua P. Gray 3 ,
• Corinna M. Fleischmann 4 ,
• Tooran Emami 5 &
• Eric J. Page 6  

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In higher education, student retention challenges and advancing student diversity are not new. Such institutional student retention challenges and student diversity promotions continue to require more focus and effort. A means to help address student retention and improve student diversity through faculty engagement in classrooms is inclusive pedagogy. In this study, we inform researchers and practitioners about the current state of inclusive pedagogical research, including gaps addressing further needs of inclusive pedagogical research from a multi-disciplinary perspective, including science, technology, engineering, education, math, humanities, management, and economics. We also share a non_STEM-Focused versus STEM-Focused inclusive pedagogy literature perspective. Using the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) framework, we reviewed 304 articles to help shed light on existing inclusive pedagogy, focusing on three core competencies: inclusive communications, inclusive pedagogy practices, and the design of inclusive curriculum. Based on our discussion of findings and related implications for future research, we conclude that inclusive pedagogical research warrants improvement across all core competencies and academic disciplines to strengthen improvement of this research field. This study contributes to researchers and practitioners, especially those focusing inclusive pedagogy in classrooms, as well as the body of inclusive pedagogy knowledge.

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1 Introduction

In 2019, one of America’s biggest challenges and focal areas in higher education was the lack of graduating student growth adversely affected by a decline in student retention and success. Higher education institutions, including those having STEM-Focused programs, have been fraught with student retention challenges [ 10 ], and the need for specific policies addressing increased student diversity [ 18 ]. Inclusive teaching benefiting all students are intentional teaching practices fostering students’ sense of belonging in the classroom environment [ 19 ] that can serve as a possible solution to student retention challenges. However, for higher education faculty, especially STEM faculty, uncertainties may exist among them because of their traditionally educated environmental experiences not focused on classroom teaching [ 10 ], and limited teaching networks and pedagogical support [ 22 ]. The faculty role in developing inclusive classrooms can offer a valued opportunity at higher education institutions to help address student retention and increase student diversity [ 18 ]. For faculty, having the appropriate training, including an inclusive pedagogy framework, strategies [ 18 ] and supporting tools, such as an inclusive teaching guide and checklist [ 10 ], are necessary to support inclusive classroom teaching. Hereafter, we refer to the practice term of inclusive teaching as inclusive pedagogy.

While existing literature in inclusive pedagogy has increased within the past twenty years, more research and practice in inclusive pedagogy are needed. Over the past few years, the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA), a top military college ( https://www.uscga.edu/aboutcga/ ), has established several initiatives to support and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion practices across the USCGA community ( https://www.uscga.edu/inclusion-and-diversity/ ). This research study is intended to help extend the continued development and delivery of inclusive pedagogical practices at USCGA and other military academies. In practice, while inclusive teaching has been traditionally designed to address underrepresented students in higher education, classroom diversity has presented challenges when “creating inclusive, supportive, equitable learning environments for all students” [ 19 , para. 3]. These inclusive teaching challenges are driven by increasing classroom diversity “in terms of race, ethnicity, culture, gender and socio-economic status” [ 19 , para. 3]. We focused our inclusive pedagogical research using the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) Inclusive Pedagogy Framework [ 32 ] to inform how best to address or improve inclusive pedagogical practices. We, collectively, approached this study from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The disciplines that were covered included: science, technology, engineering, math, education, humanities, management, and economics. Based on our review of inclusive pedagogical research published in peer-reviewed, cross-disciplinary academic journals and conference proceedings, we addressed the following three research questions.

RQ1: What type of research has been published that aligns with the CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy Framework?

RQ2: What are the current trends of inclusive pedagogy in extant literature?

RQ3: Which articles of the sample population identified were STEM-Focused?

We believe that having an inclusive pedagogy framework when working towards inclusive teaching delivery is important. Our study is rooted on the premise of promoting ‘a sense of belonging’ [ 19 ] and ‘supporting the whole student’ [ 15 ] when teaching. That sense of belonging should be driven through intentional teaching practices [ 19 ]. Based upon the CIRTL’s stated core competencies, skills, and strategies, we applied our interpretation of CIRTL coupled with fostering this ‘sense of belonging’ and ‘supporting the whole student’ in mind throughout this study.

The purpose of this study is to identify best practices that can be used to foster faculty growth in inclusive pedagogy for classroom teaching delivery. Our study’s contributions offer inclusive pedagogy considerations that may help address student retention challenges and support student diversity initiatives at higher education institutions. Also, we view this study as an extension to the existing body of inclusive pedagogy knowledge for academia and other industry researchers by sharing a research agenda that will help strengthen inclusive pedagogy delivery.

In response to the above research questions, the remainder of this article is arranged as follows. This study’s foundation and the framework used when reviewing the literature are addressed in the next section. Afterwards, we describe the methodology used in this study, and then report the related results. Following the reported results, we discuss the study’s research questions conveying key findings, related implications, and limitations, as well as a research agenda for future inclusive pedagogical research. Finally, we close this paper by providing concluding statements.

2 Study’s foundation and framework use

In higher education institutions, having an inclusive pedagogy framework that drives specific strategies can be beneficial in addressing student retention challenges and broadening student diversity. Student retention challenges have persisted in higher education institutions [ 10 ] while higher education policies have continued to focus on increasing student body diversity [ 18 ]. However, institutional culture has often presented certain biases inhibiting such student body diversity, particularly in fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) [ 18 ]. The personal role in the classroom that faculty can play offers opportunities to individually help strengthen student retention and persistence in addressing student diversity challenges [ 18 ]. In this study, the focus of inclusive pedagogy for faculty use is reviewed through the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) Inclusive Pedagogy Framework lens.

2.1 Inclusive pedagogy

While the term “inclusive pedagogy” is relatively new, the concept of using evidence-based teaching practices to support the education of all students is not. In the current work, we analyzed the prevalence and context of the word “inclusion” as related to educational practices in a variety of disciplines to determine which practices were discussed in different discipline-specific educational literature. As a multi-disciplinary faculty team, we were curious about lessons learned in inclusive pedagogy in various subdisciplines, and how these lessons could be applied to other disciplines.

With higher education in mind, Salazar, Norton and Truitt [ 26 ] addressed the phenomenon of ‘inclusive excellence’ and its linkages to the needs for inclusive pedagogy and inclusive pedagogical practices. Their argument stemmed from the increasing diversity in higher education institutions [ 14 , 26 ] and its proven associated benefits [ 2 , 6 , 26 ] to those needs of inclusive pedagogy and inclusive pedagogical practices that help drive inclusive excellence [ 26 ]. As noted above, inclusive pedagogy and education are used in many ways, however, the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) devised a pedagogical framework ( https://cirtlincludes.net/inclusive-pedagogy-framework/ ) to help researchers and teachers think about these ideas systematically, as noted below.

2.1.1 CIRTL inclusive pedagogy framework

Our research includes journal articles and conference proceedings discussing inclusive pedagogy and how those fit within the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning Inclusive Pedagogy Framework hereafter addressed as CIRTL. The mission of CIRTL is to “develop a national STEM faculty committed to implementing and advancing effective teaching practices for diverse student audiences as part of their professional careers” [ 32 , para. 1]. CIRTL was constructed as a synthesis of prior literature [ 26 ] that addressed a checklist of the Universal Instructional Design (UID checklist) based on the work of Chickering and Gamson [ 7 ]. They discussed seven principles to improve college teaching and learning: “(1) encourages contacts between students and faculty; (2) develops reciprocity and cooperation among students; (3) uses active learning techniques; (4) gives prompt feedback; (5) emphasizes time on task; (6) communicates high expectations; and (7) respects diverse talents and ways of learning [ 7 , p. 1–2]”. This framework for inclusive excellence was developed containing five dimensions: “(1) intrapersonal awareness, (2) interpersonal awareness, (3) curricular transformation, (4) inclusive pedagogy and (5) inclusive learning environments [ 26 , p. 208]”. Later this framework was further developed into a checklist of actions indicative of practices in each of these dimensions. The combination of the above-mentioned efforts was funded by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ICER-1649199 resulting in the CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy Framework [ 32 ].

In 2017, a formal introduction to CIRTL began as an investigatory effort by the USCGA Equity Task Force initiative. The Equity Task Force was formed to assess equity and inclusion efforts at the USCGA, and was comprised of several teams whereas one team, the “Inclusive Pedagogical Practices (IPP)” team was created to identify practices that might be adopted in our classrooms to close gaps in equity. The IPP team’s preliminary work led to CIRTL, which was used as a means in driving research into various discipline’s inclusive pedagogical practices that involved discipline areas outside of STEM, as USCGA’s proposed framework for inclusive pedagogy.

CIRTL contains three core competencies: Inclusive Communication, Inclusive Pedagogy Practices, and Designing Inclusive Curriculum. Each of these core competencies is characterized by a set of skills of which each skill has corresponding strategies with specific supporting practices. We noted that CIRTL provided references in support of each stated strategy.

In this study, we sought to recognize prior literature that embodied the essence of CIRTL, identify gaps in discipline areas, and help facilitate the sharing of related sources among disciplines. While these practices are not specific to STEM, we performed this study in hopes of finding synergies beneficial across the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and math. The framework as designed is summarized (Table  1 ).

This paper uses a systematic literature review (hereafter referred to as SLR), and more specifically a thematic synthesis to summarize research to date using the CIRTL inclusive pedagogy lens. The SLR process is defined as a five-step protocol that is prescribed as a “standardized method” that renders a “replicable, transparent, objective, unbiased and rigorous” approach [ 4 , p. 162]. The SLR process that we followed is depicted (Fig.  1 ).

An Overview of the SLR Process (adapted from [ 4 , p. 163])

3.1 Our SLR process detail approach

Our SLR process detail approach where we performed Steps 1–3, included supporting techniques for our research efforts to address RQ1 (Table  2 ).

3.2 Code design, development, and implementation

CIRTL was used to generate coding for assessment of the articles identified. Our coding schematic in Table  3 reflects three levels: primary (Core Competency), secondary (related Skills), and tertiary (related Strategies). The three core competencies were labeled Inclusive Communication (IC), Inclusive Pedagogy Practices (IP), and Designing Inclusive Curriculum (DC). Each skill was assigned a number (SK01-SK08) and each strategy was assigned a number (SP01-SP21). If it was determined during our review that an article could not be thematically referenced to a core competency, skill, or strategy, the article was coded as Not Applicable (NA).

3.3 Summarization of evidence

In the following two subsections, we identify the actions performed in Step 4 of our SLR process detail approach, which had two parts addressing A) RQ2 and B) RQ3, respectively.

3.3.1 Trending of CIRTL inclusive pedagogy literature

Of the evidence collected and analyzed, current trends that helped capture how we present notable CIRTL inclusive pedagogy literature review results were identified (Table  4 ).

3.3.2 Identification of STEM-focused versus non_STEM-focused articles

We recognize that CIRTL is STEM-designed, and of the selected sample of 304 articles, we provide a summary count of those articles by discipline. Table 5 also shares an understanding of STEM-disciplined (i.e., science, technology, engineering, and math) articles. However, we also identify STEM-Focused articles, which we define as articles that focus their primary literature content (or study’s objective) on STEM or as a program, not as the collective disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and math.

As shown in Fig.  2 , to identify STEM-Focused articles, we performed a text search on the keyword ‘STEM’ using NVivo12. NVivo12 is a qualitative and mixed methods analysis software, allowing for rapid and systematic search within the sample of 304 articles. Our text search query as depicted in Fig.  2 rendered 84 of the sample of 304 articles. Each article was manually reviewed to verify if it was STEM-Focused of which a total of 60 articles were identified.

A screenshot of the NVivo12 text search query performed

Demonstrating the performance of the prescribed actions as well as summarization of the evidence gathered regarding the sample of 304 articles, we completed Step 5 of our SLR process review (Table  6 ).

Based on our methodology, we identified 304 articles from the prescribed search criteria and aligned them to CIRTL. The full listing of 304 articles in alphabetical order by author(s) is available in Supplemental File 2. As shown in Table  7 , our articles were identified from 77 sources comprised of 70 journals and seven conference proceedings. Within the scope of this study, we reported identifying 68 (88.3%) of the 77 sources (both journals and conference proceedings) within the following disciplines: 29 in science, 19 in education, 10 in engineering and 10 in humanities. We reported the education separately from other disciplines, but we noted that education-discipline specific journals were accounted for within disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and management. Engineering included five (71.4%) of the seven articles from conference proceedings. We further classified our sources by subdiscipline and found most journals in our study were education focused.

4.1 Summary mapping and trends

A summary of 304 coded articles, reflecting their alignment to CIRTL by core competency, skills, and strategies is shown in Table 8 Footnote 1 . For further detail by discipline, see Supplemental File 5. While some were deemed to be strategy-specific (i.e., SP01, SP02), we reported some exclusive to specific skills (i.e., SK01, SK02) or core competency (i.e., IC, IP, DC). Certain aligned articles overlapped multiple strategies, skills, and core competencies. Therefore, the totals by strategy, skill referenced “Non-specific Strategies Defined” Footnote 2 , and core competency referenced “Non-specific Strategies or Skills Defined” Footnote 3 represent unique occurrences.

4.2 Core competency trends

We identified inclusive pedagogy literature dating back to 1976 that aligned to CIRTL, and subsequently, the CIRTL aligned prior literature reflects growth across core competencies. For the IC competency, we noted that during the 2010s the largest growth of publications existed (Supplemental File 3, Figure 1). From 2010 through 2019, 69.1% of the total 68 for IC were published. The largest growth of publications for the IP competency existed during the 2010s (Supplemental File 3, Figure 2). From 2010 through 2019, 62.1% of the total 95 for IP were published. Supplemental File 3 (Figure 3) shows from 2010 through 2019, 58.1% of the total 31 for DC were published. For SK08, 62.5% of the total eight were published. For its specific strategies, 50% of the total 18 were published for SP20, and 59.1% of the total 22 were reported for SP21.

4.3 Historical summary and multi-disciplinary trends

Our sample of 304 articles references the earliest publication in 1976. We found two articles in the 1970s, two in the 1980’s, 23 in the 1990s, 58 published in the 2000s, 194 in the 2010s as shown in Table  9 . Between 2010 and 2019 the number more than tripled compared to the previous decade. In 2020 alone, 25 articles were published when compared to two published in the 1970’s. After the first twenty years, the number published significantly increased through the following thirty years. In the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, publications increased 1,050%, 152%, and 234%. For further detail by discipline, see Supplemental File 4.

4.3.1 Science

Table 9 shows 101 science related articles published from the 1970’s to 2020’s. The publications increased every decade with 13 in 2020. Table 8 shows that out of the 304 articles applicable to CIRTL, 199 included the core competency of Inclusive Communication (IC), with 71 of those discussing the skill of Intrapersonal awareness (SK01). The strategy most mentioned in Intrapersonal Awareness was “Expand knowledge of the OTHER through readings about diverse cultures and identity groups and immersing oneself in diversity” (SP04). The same pattern existed in science journals. Of 70 articles in Inclusive Communication, 37 discussed Intrapersonal Awareness, and 18 in SP04. Fostering an Inclusive Learning Environment (SK03), another skill in IC, was present in 52 of the articles, 30 in science journals. Another relevant skill, Interpersonal Awareness (SK02), was discussed in 45 articles, 19 in science journals. The most discussed strategy, “Create opportunities for interpersonal dialogue where multiple perspectives are honored” (SP05), appeared in 12 articles, four in science journals.

The core competency of Inclusive Pedagogy Practices (IP) was discussed in 164 of the articles, 52 in science journals. The most common skill developed in IP was “Using teaching methods that consider diverse learning, abilities, previous experiences and background knowledge” (SK07) with 60 articles, 21 in science journals. The most repeated strategy, “Effective use of learning technologies and tools.” (SP16), appeared in 24 articles, nine of which were in science journals. The core competency of “Designing Inclusive Curriculum” was mentioned in 74 articles, 28 in science journals. Curricular Transformation skill was addressed in 43 articles, 19 in science journals. “Reflect critically on whom the curriculum includes or excludes (SP21)” appeared in 22 articles, 13 in science journals, while “Incorporate multiculturalism throughout course content” (SP20) was a strategy included in 18 articles, nine (50%) in science journals. We found 21 journals in science education and reported eight focusing on CIRTL.

4.3.2 Technology

In technology, the inclusive pedagogy aligned to the CIRTL represented 55 (18.1%) of 304 items. As with engineering and humanities, no CIRTL aligned inclusive pedagogy related articles were reported in the 1970s and 1980s. We reported two (3.64%) of 55 articles published in the 1990s. In the 2000s and 2010s, a significant increase resulted in 21 (38.2%) of 55 and 26 (47.3%) of 55 articles published. The remaining five (9.1%) were in 2020. For technology, 55 education articles were published in seven journals and no conference proceedings. The ReCALL journal published 40 (72.7%) of the 55 total articles. Of the total 40 ReCALL articles, 19 (47.5%) and 16 (40.0%) articles were published in 2000s and 2010s.

The technology inclusive pedagogy results included articles across all three core competencies. For the IC core competency, 25 (45.5%) of the 55 articles were aligned. Of the 25 total IC core competency related articles, seven (28.0%), nine (36.0%), six (24.0%), and one (4.0%) were aligned or cross-aligned to the specific skills, SK01, SK02, SK03, and SK04. Nine (36.0%) of the total 25 articles were generally aligned to the IC core competency. When focused on the specific skills related strategies, we reported that SK01 and SK02 included four (57.1%) of seven and five (55.6%) of nine crossed multiple skills related strategies. For SK03, three (50.0%) of six related specifically to its associated strategy, SP10, and the remaining three (50.0%) of six articles were generally aligned. Only one (4.0%) of the 25 total articles was generally aligned to SK04.

For the IP core competency, 47 (85.5%) of the 55 articles were aligned including 16 (34.0%) of the total 47 articles being generally aligned. No articles were aligned to SK05 and its related strategies. For SK06, only three (60.0%) of the five articles were aligned to the associated strategy, SP14, whereas as the remaining two (40.0%) generally aligned. Of the total 47 articles aligned to the IP core competency, 29 (61.7%) aligned to the specific skill of SK07. While only one (3.4%) of the 29 total articles was generally aligned to SK07, the remaining 28 (96.6%) articles were aligned or cross aligned to the specific strategies of SP16, SP17, SP18, and SP19 resulting in 13 (46.4%), six (21.4%), five (17.9%), and six (21.4%). For the remaining core competency, DC, there were four (7.3%) of the total 55 articles aligned. For SK08, three (75.0%) of the four articles were aligned to its related strategies. The remaining one (25.0%) of four was generally aligned to the DC core competency.

4.3.3 Engineering

Of the 304 articles that were aligned to CIRTL, 27 of the articles were categorized in engineering. These were published between 1994 and 2019. All 27 came from 10 sources, including five journals and five conference proceedings of five engineering societies.

Many articles in the engineering discipline (22 out of the 27) discussed the core competency of IC. Intrapersonal awareness was specifically discussed, including practices that develop an awareness of how beliefs, cultures, and privileges influence pedagogies and practices that expand intrapersonal knowledge of the OTHER through readings about diverse cultures and identity groups immersed in diversity [ 3 , 17 , 33 ]. Many articles in the IC category, such as Knight et al. [ 20 ] and Farrell et al. [ 12 ], discussed IC related techniques, including the positive impacts of practices that created opportunities for interpersonal dialogue honoring multiple perspectives and fostering an inclusive, welcoming, respectful environment.

Of the 22 articles identified as supporting IC, 14 came from journals and eight came from society conference proceedings. The first journal article was published in 1996, but most were found in journals from 2016 to 2019. For conference proceedings, this topic was first recorded as a presentation in 2010 but was frequently found from 2017 to 2019.

Eight of the engineering articles addressed the IP core competency. These discussed teaching methods that consider diverse learning, abilities, previous experiences, and background knowledge [ 5 , 13 ]. The articles highlight practices using learning technologies and tools, techniques that provide support (including technology) to enhance learning opportunities and utilizing a constructivist approach to teaching [ 16 , 24 ].

Of the eight articles aligned to the IP core competency, four of the articles came from journals, and four from engineering society conference proceedings. The journal articles were published in 1996, 2005, 2007, and 2019. For conference proceedings, an inclusive pedagogy presentation was first recorded in 2017, noted twice in 2018, and once in an engineering discipline presentation in 2019.

Eight of the articles addressed the DC core competency. Curricular transformation and practices that reflect whom the curriculum includes or excludes were discussed [ 17 , 23 ]. Of the eight articles aligned to DC core competency, four came from journals and four from engineering society conference proceedings. The first journal article was published in 1994. Three additional articles were published in 2019. For the conference proceedings, the DC core competency topic was first presented in 2015 and in one presentation per year from 2017 to 2019.

4.3.4 Education

The inclusive pedagogy articles in education that aligned to CIRTL represented 93 (30.6%) of 304 items. We reported two of 93 (5.4%) published in the 1970s and 1980s, an increase to seven of 93 (7.5%), 12 of 93 (12.9%), and 66 of 93 (71.0%) during the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. The remaining six of 93 (6.5%) were reported in 2020.

The inclusive pedagogy of 93 articles related to education was published in nineteen (19) journals and one conference proceeding, 92 (98.9%) and one (1.1%). The Critical Studies in Education journal published 47 (51.1%) of the 92 total articles. During the period of 2010s, 40 (85.1%) of the 47 articles published in Critical Studies in Education represented 60.6% of the 66 total articles published.

The education inclusive pedagogy results included articles across all three core competencies where multiple articles aligned cross core competencies, skills, and strategies. For the IC core competency, 62 (66.7%) of the 93 articles were aligned. For SK01 and SK02, 13 (72.2%) of 18, and seven (63.6%) of 11 crossed multiple skilled related strategies. For both SK03 and SK04, nine (90.0%) of 10 and four (66.7%) of six were generally aligned. Overall, 22 (35.5%) of 62 were non-specific to the IC core competency related skills and strategies.

For the IP core competency, 44 (47.3%) of the 93 articles aligned. No articles were aligned to SK05 and its related strategies. For SK06, only one (2.3%) of the 44 articles was aligned, but non-specific to its related strategies. For SK07, five (71.4%) of seven total articles were aligned to its specific strategies, and the remaining two (28.6%) of seven total articles were reported as non-specific to its related strategies. Thirty-seven (84.1%) of the 44 were non-specific to the IP core competency related skills and strategies. For the DC core competency, 25 (26.9%) of the 93 articles were aligned. For SK08, nine (69.2%) of the 13 articles were aligned to its related strategies, and the remaining four (30.8%) of 13 total articles were reported as non-specific to its related strategies. The 12 remaining (40.0%) of 25 articles were generally aligned to the DC core competency.

4.3.5 Humanities, management and economics

In this study, inclusive pedagogy that aligned to CIRTL in the humanities discipline was first reported in the 1990s. Ten humanities’ related journals rendered a total of 20 (6.6%) of the 304 articles reported. Composition Studies and Language, Culture and Curriculum journals accounting for 60% of the total 20 articles, published seven (35.0%) and five (25.0%) articles, for the period of 1990 through 2020. Of the total 20 articles, two (10.0%), four (20.0%), and 14 (70.0%) were published in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.

Management inclusive pedagogy results were identified almost 30 years after the first results were reported in the 1970s (Table  9 ). Three (1.0%) of the 304 items were reported. In the 2000s and 2010s, two (66.7%) of three and one (33.3%) of three were published. All three articles were published in the Academy of Management Learning & Education journal.

While this study’s inclusive pedagogy results first appear in the 1970s, economics related results lag 40 years later. Five representing 1.64% of the 304 items were reported. Four of five (80.0%) were published during the period of 2015–2019, and the remaining one (20.0%) was published in 2020 (Table  9 ). All five articles were published in the Economics of Education Review journal.

4.4 STEM-focused versus non_STEM-focused

From our NVivo12 text search, we identified an initial total of 84 articles of our 304 articles as potentially STEM-Focused. Each article was manually reviewed to verify if the article was STEM-Focused whereas the focus of the article was directly related to STEM as an educational program instead of the article having mention(s) of the acronym, ‘STEM’ as a reference or comment in the article. Upon completion of this article manual review, 24 of the articles were excluded resulting in a total of 60 (19.74%) of the 304 articles. These were categorized by discipline as shown in Table  10 and a breakdown of STEM-Focused articles CIRTL-aligned are captured in Table  11 . Both science and engineering disciplines accounted for 76.67% of the total 60 STEM-Focused articles.

5 Discussion

The CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy Framework supported by the five dimensions promoting inclusive excellence [ 26 ] offers practices addressed by its core competencies, and related skills and strategies that faculty can deliver as change agents. Strategies, including acknowledgment of individual differences, have been recommended to strengthen faculty empowerment, meaningful fulfillment, and professional development to increase STEM participation [ 18 ]. STEM and other faculty may view the CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy Framework as a tool for ways to address self-awareness and empathy among students. Table 12 provides a summary of this study’s key findings and implications. In consideration of this, we offer our multi-disciplinary research perspectives to past, present, and future use of CIRTL. From a CIRTL lens, we propose a research agenda to foster and strengthen inclusive pedagogy in higher education.

5.1 RQ1: What published research aligns with the CIRTL inclusive pedagogy framework?

Based on prior literature review, CIRTL-aligned published work began in 1976 within the science discipline. Over the next forty years, this research spread across disciplines, including science, technology, engineering, economics, education, humanities, and management. We noted prior CIRTL-aligned literature evidenced inclusive pedagogical practice from: (1) the CIRTL core competencies, and (2) key focal research topics presented in the literature.

5.1.1 CIRTL core competencies

The Inclusive Communication core competency is paramount for excellence in teaching. In the science discipline, one common strategy in IC was to “Expand knowledge of the OTHER through readings about diverse cultures and identity groups and immersing oneself in diversity” (SP04). This exemplifies encouraging cultural and identity diversity. Gross et al. [ 15 ] discuss two cohort programs in STEM fields at Carleton College designed to support students’ sense of belonging, students’ learning, and students’ drive to succeed. Eckstrand, Potter, Bayer and Englander [ 11 ] discuss developing competencies to care for individuals who are “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender nonconforming; or born with differences in sexual development.” The article states the process can be applied to other underrepresented populations. Another skill relevant to IC is Interpersonal Awareness (SK02) with the strategy discussed the most as “Create opportunities for interpersonal dialogue where multiple perspectives are honored” (SP05). Inclusion of diverse perspectives paves the way for collaborative, positive communication. Sarmiento et al. [ 27 ] discuss implementing a curriculum for medical students with collaboration of various groups discussing models of disability to understand and address challenges of patients with disabilities.

In science, the second most common core competency was Inclusive Pedagogy (IP). The strategy of “Effective use of learning technologies and tools.” (SP16) was found in 24 articles. Supalo et al. [ 29 ] discuss laboratory adaptations to increase accessibility to blind or visually impaired students. These included computer-based, audible, and tactile adaptive technology for chemistry laboratories to provide more independent, rewarding experiences. De Beer and Whitlock [ 9 ] discussed the social-scientific issues (SSI) approach to science teaching suggesting how respect of students’ backgrounds and their indigenous knowledge should be adapted to a particular situation. This was an example of discussion of “Incorporate multiculturalism throughout course content” (SP20).

The core competency of Designing Inclusive Curriculum was not common in the science articles and conference proceedings. This competency was defined by one skill (curricular transformation) compared to three skills for the two other competencies. When considering the CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy Framework, the education discipline addressed the IC, Inclusive Communications, and IP, Inclusive Pedagogy, core competencies more than the DC, Designing Inclusive Curriculum, core competency, whereas IC and IP collectively represented 66.7% and 47.3% respectively.

5.2 RQ2: What are current trends of inclusive pedagogy in extant literature?

The increasing importance of literature published in inclusive pedagogy is encouraging. The number of published articles has increased every decade since 1970s as shown in Table  9 . This agrees with what other researchers have found. Waitoller and Artiles [ 31 ] found, in their 2000–2010 decadal study, that research for inclusive education increased in the mid-2000s. According to Stentiford and Koutsouris [ 28 ] inclusion has become “imbedded in the educational policy in many countries following landmark legislative developments concerning human rights, such as the UNESCO Salamanca Statement [ 30 ].” Stentiford and Koutsouris [ 28 ] provided examples of increased awareness of inclusion in higher education literature in the U.K. “following the election of New Labour in 1997” and in Australia “following the election of the Rudd Labor government in 2007”.

In technology, inclusive pedagogical trending started slowly in the current decade, but many improvement opportunities in research exist. Of the 55 articles identified, 47 (85.5%) have aligned with the IP, Inclusive Pedagogy, core competency by focusing on the specific skill, SK07, “Using teaching methods that consider diverse learning, abilities, previous experiences and background knowledge.” Within the IP core competency, we did not identify articles aligned to the skill of SK05, “Communicating Clear Course Expectations.” A small number of articles, five (9.09%) of the 55 aligned to the specific skill, SK06, “Offering multiple ways for students to demonstrate their knowledge,” did not.

In the engineering discipline, publishing inclusive pedagogy practices has increased in recent years as shown in Table  9 , but there are gaps in the published research on the topic as reflected in Table  13 . Utilizing the engineering subset of articles, the core competencies of Inclusive Communication, Inclusive Pedagogy Practices, and Designing an Inclusive Curriculum were addressed. However, several skills and strategies included in the CIRTL framework were not discussed by any articles reviewed. A complete list of skills and strategies that not included in the articles reflected in Table  13 , shows significant gaps in literature for the CIRTL framework in engineering.

5.3 RQ3: Which articles of the sample population identified were STEM-Focused?

Sixty articles were STEM-Focused (Table  12 ). STEM-Focused articles addressed specific needs when considering inclusive teaching, such as a better perspective of the role faculty plays towards building inclusivity [ 18 ] and the need to have greater focus on accessibility needs of disabled students [ 29 ].

5.4 Limitations

One main limitation to our work stems from our focus on a small sample of articles within the study’s focused disciplines when considering math. Because CIRTL is STEM-designed, having better representation of the math discipline would have presented a more holistic perspective of how well CIRTL served STEM users. Also, having more direct emphasis on math, and opportunities to address specific gaps related to an applied CIRTL lens to prior literature would benefit academic institutions and researchers.

A barrier to adoption of inclusive pedagogical practices is the curation of supporting literature. The lack of a common language among disciplines in describing practices impedes curation. Researchers sometimes disagree on the term “inclusion” and “inclusive pedagogy.” Stentiford and Koutsouris [ 28 ] argued that “inconsistency and fragmentation in perceptions of inclusive pedagogies is the result of inclusion itself being a philosophically contested matter.” Inclusion has been interpreted as “emphasis in shared cultures,” “flexibility of the curriculum to accommodate diversity of learners,” and “relationship between social inclusion and choice” [ 28 , p. 2246]. We noticed that each discipline has specific terms conveying the same principles. Since we did not use these search terms, we could have missed relevant papers. Other terms used in science articles that we did not include are: “culturally responsive education” and “cultural competence” [ 8 , 21 , 25 ]. “Cultural competence,” for example, a search term abundantly used in medical education, aligns well with SP03 (Develop awareness of how their beliefs, cultures, and privileges influence curriculum and pedagogies) and SP04 (Expand knowledge of the OTHER through readings about diverse cultures and identity groups, and immersing oneself in diversity).

Although the CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy Framework is a comprehensive look into inclusive pedagogy practices, it could be expanded to include areas deemed important to this conversation. We found several articles discussing teacher workshops to help design inclusive pedagogy and inclusive curriculum. We considered those as “not applicable” since they did not relate to the inclusive pedagogy of the students but, discussed teacher training. As teachers become aware and better trained, they are more likely to address these topics in their classrooms. We did not include articles about improving participation of underrepresented groups to encourage diversity and inclusion in various programs, such as STEM. Such programs lead to more inclusive education, but they were not part of the CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy Framework. Articles on equity issues were not included, since they did not fit the CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy Framework. Nor did we did not include articles about policy implications of diversity in the curriculum because Inclusive Pedagogy Policy was not part of the CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy Framework. However, for inclusive pedagogy to occur, policies that lead to a more diverse and inclusive classroom should be in place and are areas where the CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy Framework could be expanded.

5.5 Implications for higher education

We found gaps in the literature when searching for articles that align with the CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy Framework as depicted in Table  13 . There were no articles on “Communicating Clear Course Expectations” (SK05). Strategies would be “addressing essential course components,” such as providing assignments to meet intended learning outcomes, using a comprehensive syllabus, and requesting frequent student feedback about the course and instructor. Another strategy part of SK05 not included was “communicating clear assessments and providing constructive feedback,” such as providing students with grading rubrics and comments in a timely manner and discussing overall weaknesses and strengths of assignments. Also, there were no articles on strategy to “Foster student choice in assignments” (SP15), such as options for presentations, papers, team assignments, role playing, etc.

Several strategy-level topics did not appear in the literature we collected. Engineering discipline specific research using teaching methods considering diverse learning, abilities, previous experiences, and background knowledge should be published and made available. Practices utilized to create a welcoming, inclusive environment and techniques to develop interpersonal skills should be part of engineering discipline specific literature.

For future research in engineering, a focused effort should be made to locate more articles within that discipline. Considering the small sample size of articles, recommended topics should be considered in extending the existing CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy framework for engineering. Skill-level topics needing consideration are examples of practices ensuring clear course expectations and methods allowing students multiple ways to demonstrate knowledge.

The findings of this SLR have significant implications for the landscape of higher education, particularly in the realm of fostering inclusive pedagogical practices. The comprehensive analysis of existing literature using the CIRTL framework illuminates key areas where higher education institutions can focus to enhance inclusivity. Firstly, the review highlights the need for ongoing and nuanced attention to pedagogical strategies that are responsive to the diverse backgrounds and experiences of students. This includes developing curricula that are not only culturally sensitive but also actively engage with and value the contributions of all students. Such an approach is essential for breaking down barriers to participation and success, especially for those from historically marginalized groups.

Moreover, the synthesis of multi-disciplinary perspectives underlines the importance of a cross-disciplinary approach to inclusive pedagogy. The findings suggest that while there are common challenges across disciplines, the nuances of each field require tailored strategies to effectively address issues of inclusivity. For instance, STEM fields might need specific interventions to bridge gaps in representation and participation. This calls for higher education institutions to foster inter-departmental collaborations and learning communities that can share best practices and innovate inclusive teaching methods. The review also underscores the imperative for institutional policies and leadership to support these endeavors. This involves not only resource allocation but also the establishment of an institutional culture that prioritizes inclusivity as a core value, thereby creating an environment where all students feel valued and have equal opportunities to succeed.

In conclusion, this SLR serves as a catalyst for transformative change in higher education. By providing a comprehensive overview of the current state of inclusive pedagogical practices and identifying gaps in the literature, it sets the stage for future research and practice that can lead to more equitable and inclusive educational environments.

6 Conclusion

In the classroom, we offer the CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy Framework as a teaching practice builder and change agent facilitator among faculty to embolden and strengthen their role in improving student retention and diversity in higher education. Supplemental File 6 provides a complete mapping of all 304 sample articles by discipline to the CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy Framework. This mapping can be viewed as a reference tool of examples faculty and staff at USCGA, and other military academies can use as inclusive teaching practices.

We also recognize that the CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy Framework may serve as a catalyst supporting a shift in continuing professional development among STEM and other faculty, regarding higher education practices. Where possible, we believe that the use of an inclusive pedagogy framework like CIRTL offers many existing benefits and growing opportunities for future innovative inclusive teaching practices to be developed and implemented in higher education.

As a result of our key findings and research agenda rendered from the SLR process, an increase in research and practitioner initiatives be pursued with the use of CIRTL in higher education. Additional research may offer innovative approaches that demonstrate the performance of CIRTL’s core competencies, skills, and strategies. Future research could further suggest studies that emphasize the effectiveness of CIRTL inclusive pedagogy practices when compared to other inclusive pedagogy frameworks.

Lastly, we wish to offer this SLR of inclusive pedagogical research as a call for researchers and practitioners to pursue equitable education in higher education using the CIRTL framework in STEM. Having greater focus on the use of the CIRTL framework in STEM could offer continuous improvement opportunities. For example, very little remains unknown on the overall benefits of the CIRTL framework in STEM. More research lending transparency in knowledge transference and benefits of the CIRTL framework in STEM’s use through teaching could help address higher educational needs, such as improvements in curricular design, delivery, and choices as well as educational policies. Future outcomes from STEM-Focused research and increased adoption of the CIRTL framework in STEM in higher education could also offer beneficial suggestions on how to further strengthen and extend the CIRTL framework when considering our SLR’s research gaps.

Data Availability

All data (n=304 articles) showing all coded data (articles) based on the CIRTL Inclusive Pedagogy framework are shared in Supplemental File 6.

In coding, articles may have a many-to-one relationship at the CIRTL Strategy level. If an article was coded at the CIRTL Strategy level, the article was not also coded at the Core Competency or Skill levels, which would have resulted in double-counting of the article. Overall, the respective Table should not be viewed as having a sum (or footed) total of all counts above.

When viewing a Skill denoted as (Non-specific Strategies Defined) line item, the total count represents an article that was coded at the Skill level and based upon the judgment of the Initial Coder and Validator, the article could not be coded at any related Strategy level.

When viewing a Core Competency denoted as (Non-specific Strategies or Skills Defined) line item, the total count represents an article that was coded at the Core Competency level and based upon the judgment of the Initial Coder and Validator, the article could not be coded at any related Skill or Strategy level.

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AJS, KM, JG, CF and TE wrote the main manuscript text as it relates to respective disciplines as follows. KM and JG wrote the manuscript sections pertaining to science. CF and TE wrote the manuscript sections pertaining to engineering. AJS, KM and JG wrote the manuscript sections pertaining to education. AJS wrote the manuscript sections pertaining to all remaining disciplines. AJS prepared Tables  2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 and CF prepared Table  13 . AJS prepared Figs.  1 , 2 . AJS prepared Supplemental File 1 through Supplemental File 6. EJP, as a higher education subject matter expert (SME), brought both an objective and holistic perspective to this study. EJP helped to ensure the manuscript's overall messaging as well as emphasis on our perceived value contributions to higher education and student learning. EJP prepared Table 1 . All authors reviewed the manuscript and provided feedback and suggested revisions, where needed.

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Jackson-Summers, A.G., Mrakovcich, K.L., Gray, J.P. et al. A systematic review of inclusive pedagogical research using the CIRTL inclusive pedagogy framework: multi-disciplinary and STEM perspectives, current trends and a research agenda. Discov Educ 3 , 30 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-024-00093-y

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Received : 25 July 2023

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Published : 25 March 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-024-00093-y

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Nanomedicine as a multimodal therapeutic paradigm against cancer: on the way forward in advancing precision therapy

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a Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA E-mail: [email protected]

b Radiobiology, Department of Radiation Oncology & Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India

Recent years have witnessed dramatic improvements in nanotechnology-based cancer therapeutics, and it continues to evolve from the use of conventional therapies (chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy) to increasingly multi-complex approaches incorporating thermal energy-based tumor ablation ( e.g. magnetic hyperthermia and photothermal therapy), dynamic therapy ( e.g. photodynamic therapy), gene therapy, sonodynamic therapy ( e.g. ultrasound), immunotherapy, and more recently real-time treatment efficacy monitoring ( e.g. theranostic MRI-sensitive nanoparticles). Unlike monotherapy, these multimodal therapies (bimodal, i.e. , a combination of two therapies, and trimodal, i.e. , a combination of more than two therapies) incorporating nanoplatforms have tremendous potential to improve the tumor tissue penetration and retention of therapeutic agents through selective active/passive targeting effects. These combinatorial therapies can correspondingly alleviate drug response against hypoxic/acidic and immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments and promote/induce tumor cell death through various multi-mechanisms such as apoptosis, autophagy, and reactive oxygen-based cytotoxicity, e.g. , ferroptosis, etc. These multi-faced approaches such as targeting the tumor vasculature, neoangiogenic vessels, drug-resistant cancer stem cells (CSCs), preventing intra/extravasation to reduce metastatic growth, and modulation of antitumor immune responses work complementary to each other, enhancing treatment efficacy. In this review, we discuss recent advances in different nanotechnology-mediated synergistic/additive combination therapies, emphasizing their underlying mechanisms for improving cancer prognosis and survival outcomes. Additionally, significant challenges such as CSCs, hypoxia, immunosuppression, and distant/local metastasis associated with therapy resistance and tumor recurrences are reviewed. Furthermore, to improve the clinical precision of these multimodal nanoplatforms in cancer treatment, their successful bench-to-clinic translation with controlled and localized drug-release kinetics, maximizing the therapeutic window while addressing safety and regulatory concerns are discussed. As we advance further, exploiting these strategies in clinically more relevant models such as patient-derived xenografts and 3D organoids will pave the way for the application of precision therapy.

• This article is part of the themed collections: Recent Review Articles and Theranostic nanoplatforms for biomedicine

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P. Sandbhor, P. Palkar, S. Bhat, G. John and J. S. Goda, Nanoscale , 2024,  16 , 6330 DOI: 10.1039/D3NR06131K

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