How to support fair education to increase the representation of girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)?  This is the issue tackled by the co-funded Erasmus + Fairness In Teaching (FIT) project.

At school, persistent gender stereotypes relating to girls and science keep preventing girls from choosing STEM studies, and consequently from pursuing STEM careers. Fairness (understood as impartial and just treatment or behaviour without favouritism or discrimination) in teaching has become a real competence to be developed in school education and needs to be accompanied by an advanced approach. The FIT project aims to make teaching fairer and develop this approach. It provides primary and secondary school teachers with tools they can use to help them understand how to make their teaching fairer in everyday practices. 

These tools are:

• specific teaching materials in primary or secondary education: exercises, guidelines, games, quizzes, videos, etc.
• questionnaires to assess how fair teaching practices are and appraise improvement
• a system for recommending teaching materials tailored to the results of teachers’ assessments
• training for teachers to raise their awareness of biases and stereotypes in STEM education and to improve their fair teaching practices

These tools are accessible on the toolbox page, free of charge and with no login details required. Teachers can:

• browse the teaching materials freely with a multi-criteria search, rate them or propose new ones, thereby contributing to the FIT community of practice (FIT CoP)
• follow dedicated training courses
• complete the questionnaires to assess the fairness of their teaching and access tailored teaching materials

The assessment tools rely on a competency framework of fairness in teaching that covers not only gender but also intersectionality and observes a continuum between primary and secondary school. With its associated training sessions, both online and face-to-face, this framework will become a reference for school education.

FOR WHOM?

• Teachers from primary and secondary school levels and especially teachers of STEM, department heads and headteachers, school delegates in digital education and delegates for equality between girls and boys, as well as psychologists and career advisors in primary and secondary education

• Pupils in primary and secondary education (children and adolescents aged 11-18); the final beneficiaries of project results.

• Associated partners: teacher-training centres, representatives of regional/national and EU authorities, STEM ambassadors, etc., promoting inclusion, diversity and fairness.

HOW?

FIT builds on the results and lessons of the former Gender4STEM project. Running from 2017 to 2020, Gender4STEM was an Erasmus+ project (No. 2017-1-LU01-KA201-023926) aimed at tackling gender fairness in teaching. It developed a blended approach combining hands-on training and a digital assistant platform for teachers, to provide them with specific tools for more gender-fair teaching. The Gender4STEM project reached more than 300 stakeholders (teachers, pupils, experts, etc.).

Building on this experience, the new FIT project aims to develop an advanced approach to improving fair teaching practices, especially in STEM disciplines, thereby providing equal opportunities and access to STEM across a diverse range of pupils (boys and girls, the less-privileged, etc. ).

FIT extends the competency framework of fairness in teaching stemming from the Gender4STEM project from gender to an intersectionnal approach and observing a continuum between primary and secondary school education.

Following a design thinking process, FIT collaboratively engages target groups in a community of practice (the FIT CoP) that raises their awareness about fairness in teaching and engages them as “agents of change” to increase the impact of the project.

Transnational meetings and multiplier events contribute to the dissemination of the project results and improve its impact.

WHO?

The FIT partnership represents a good mix of expertise gathering actors active and competent:

• in fairness in education and in developing training tools (WIDE ANDCO (LU), Smart Venice (IT) and GIP tout au long de la vie (FR)),

• in developing technological assets answering societal challenges (LIST (LU) and the Mobile Devices Laboratory from the Frederick University (CY))

• and in developing community of practice (Gender Equality and Inclusion Research Unit of Frederick University (CY) as member of the Community of Practices Horizon2020 project ACT-on-gender and GIP formation tout au long de la vie (FR) with the “Délégation académique au numérique pour l'éducation” (DANE) who contributes in developing learning communities among Schools)...."

The Fairness In Teaching (FIT) project is supported by the Erasmus+ programme, Key Action 2: Partnerships for Cooperation (N° 2021-1-LUO1-KA220-SCH-000029569).  FIT started on 1 January 2022 and will end on 30 June 2024.