Aysun ATA AKTÜRK, Mustafa ÇETİN, Özlen DEMİRCAN, Ezgi ŞENYURT

Çocukların STEM Etkinlik Seçimlerinin Cinsiyet Açısından İncelenmesi

STEM etkinliklerine katılım oranlarındaki farklılıkların cinsiyet açısından ortaya konması, cinsiyet eşitsizliğine yönelik önerilen bir çözümün, yalnızca yaşamın ilerleyen dönemlerinde değil, erken çocukluk döneminden başlayarak uygulanmasının gerekliliğini ortaya koymak için nesnel bir gerekçe sunabilir. Bu doğrultuda, bu çalışmanın amacı, 3-8 yaş arası çocukların STEM etkinlik tercihlerinin incelenmesidir. Çalışmanın örneklemi, her yıl düzenlenen sekiz saatlik bir bilim fuarında sunulan STEM etkinliklerine katılan 3-8 yaş arası 193 çocuktan oluşmaktadır. Araştırmanın verileri kontrol listesi aracılığıyla toplanmıştır. Araştırmanın sonuçları, etkinliklere katılan erkek sayısının kızlara göre daha yüksek olduğunu göstermiştir. Katılım oranları yaş gruplarına göre incelendiğinde, 5 yaş grubunda erkeklerin, 6 yaş grubunda ise kızların daha çok katılım gösterdiği belirlemiştir. Altı etkinlikte kız ve erkek çocukların katılımları anlamlı düzeyde farklılaşmamaktadır. Diğer yandan, altı etkinlik arasından, erkeklerin manyetik duvar etkinliğine kızlara oranla anlamlı düzeyde daha fazla katıldığı saptanmıştır. Bu bulgular doğrultusunda, bu araştırma, STEM ile ilgili alanlardaki cinsiyet eşitsizliğinin ortaya çıktığı temelleri işaret etme açısından önemlidir.

An Analysis of Young Children’s Preferences on STEM Activities in terms of Gender

Presenting differences in the participation rates of genders in STEM activities may be a practical way to reveal that a solution to the gender gap should include addressing children at an early age, rather than at later periods in life. Thus, the purpose of the study was to investigate the STEMrelated activity preferences of 3 to 8-year-old children. The sample of the study consisted of 193 children, between 3- and 8-years old attended STEM activities presented at the eight-hours-long science fair annually organized. Data was collected through a checklist. The results of the study revealed that the number of boys that attended the activities was greater than that of girls. More boys participated in the age group 5 than girls. On the other hand, girls’ participation was higher than boys in age group 6. The results of the study also revealed that the activity preference of girls and boys did not differ for five out of six activities, i.e., Catapult Design, Jumping Wooden Sticks, Design Own Ship, Rescue the Horse, and Constructing with Mirror. However, it was found that among the six activities, boys participated in the magnetic wall activity significantly more thangirls. This study may indicate the basis from which the gender gap emerged in STEM-related fields.

PDF

___

Aina, O. E., & Cameron, P. A. (2011). Why does gender matter? Counteracting stereotypes with young children. Dimensions of Early Childhood, 39(3), 11-19.
Bailey, S. M. (1993). The current status of gender equity research in American schools. Educational Psychologist, 28(4), 321-339.
Bell, P., Lewenstein, B., Shouse, A. W., & Feder, M. A. (2009). Learning science in informal environments: People, places, and pursuits. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Bowman, B. T., Donavan, M.S., & Burns, M. S. (Eds.). (2001). Eager to learn: Educating our preschoolers. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Caine-Bish, N. L., & Scheule, B. (2009). Gender differences in food preferences of school‐aged children and adolescents. Journal of School Health, 79(11), 532-540. doi:10.1111/j.17461561.2009. 00445.x
Carlone, H. B. (2004). The cultural production of science in reform-based physics: Girls’ access, participation and resistance. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41(4), 392-414. doi:10.1002/tea.20006
Christidou, V. (2006). Greek Students’ Science‐related Interests and Experiences: Gender differences and correlations. International Journal of Science Education, 28(10), 1181-1199. doi:10.1080/09500690500439389
del Río, M. F., & Strasser, K. (2013). Preschool children’s beliefs about gender differences in academic skills. Sex Roles, 68(3-4), 231-238. doi:10.1007/s11199-012-0195-6
Desouza, J. M. S., & Czerniak, C. M. (2002). Social behaviors and gender differences among preschoolers: implications for science activities. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 16(2), 175-188. doi:10.1080/02568540209594983
Early, D. M., Iruka, I. U., Ritchie, S., Barbarin, O. A., Winn, D. M. C., Crawford, G. M., ... & Bryant, D. M. (2010). How do pre-kindergarteners spend their time? Gender, ethnicity, and income as predictors of experiences in pre-kindergarten classrooms. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 25(2), 177-193. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2009.10.003
Farenga, S. J., & Joyce, B. A. (1999). Intentions of young students to enroll in science courses in the future: An examination of gender differences. Science Education, 83(1), 55-75. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-237X(199901)83:1<55::AID-SCE3>3.0.CO;2-O
Finn, K., Johannsen, N., & Specker, B. (2002). Factors associated with physical activity in preschool children. The Journal of Pediatrics, 140(1), 81-85. doi:10.1067/mpd.2002.120693
Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2012). How to design and evaluate research in education (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Freeman, N. K. (2007). Preschoolers’ perceptions of gender appropriate toys and their parents’ beliefs about genderized behaviors: Miscommunication, mixed messages, or hidden truths?. Early Childhood Education Journal, 34(5), 357-366. doi:10.1007/s10643-006-0123-x
Gelman, S. A., & Kalish, C. W. (2006). Conceptual development. In D. Kuhn & R. Siegler (Eds.), William Damon, and Richard M. Lerner, Handbook of child psychology: Cognition, perception, and language (pp. 687-733). Hoboken, NJ, US: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Goble, P., Martin, C. L., Hanish, L. D., & Fabes, R. A. (2012). Children’s gender-typed activity choices across preschool social contexts. Sex Roles, 67(7-8), 435-451. doi:10.1007/s11199-012-0176-9
Gold, Z. S., Elicker, J., Choi, J. Y., Anderson, T., & Brophy, S. P. (2015). Preschoolers' engineering play behaviors: Differences in gender and play context. Children, Youth and Environments, 25(3), 1-21. doi:10.7721/chilyoutenvi.25.3.0001
Gullo, D. F. (2005). Understanding Assessment and Evaluation in Early Childhood Education (2nd ed.). New York, N.Y.: Teachers College Press.
Halford, G., & Andrews G., C. W. (2006 Reasoning and problem solving. In D. Kuhn & R. Siegler (Eds.), William Damon, and Richard M. Lerner, Handbook of child psychology: Cognition, perception, and language (pp. 557-608). Hoboken, NJ, US: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Hill. C., Corbett. C., & St. Rose, A. (2010). Why so few? Women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Washington, DC: American Association of University Women.
Hughes, F. (2003). Sensivity to the social and cultural contexts of the play of young children. In J. P. Isenberg & M. R. Jalongo (Eds.), Major trends and issues in early childhood education (2nd ed.) (pp. 126-135). New York: Teacher College Press.
Leibham, M. B., Alexander, J. M., & Johnson, K. E. (2013). Science interests in preschool boys and girls: Relations to later self‐concept and science achievement. Science Education, 97(4), 574-593. doi:10.1002/sce.21066
Lynn, R., & Mikk, J. (2008). Science: sex differences in attainment. The Journal of Social, Political, and Economic Studies, 33(1), 101-124. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2011.06.003
Mantzicopoulos, P., & Patrick, H. (2010). “The seesaw is a machine that goes up and down”: Young children's narrative responses to science-related informational text. Early Education andDevelopment, 21(3), 412-444. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00171
Murphy, P., & Elwood, J. (1998). Gendered experiences, choices and achievement-exploring the links. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 2(2), 95-118. doi:10.1080/136031198002 0202
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) (2009). Developmentally appropriate practices in early childhood education programs serving children from birth through age 8 (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
National Academies (2007). Beyond bias and barriers: fulfilling the potential of women in academic science and engineering. Washington, DC: National Academic Press.
National Research Council. (2012). A framework for k-12 science education: practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
OECD (2018). Education at Glance 2018: OECD Indicators. OECD Publishing: Paris. doi:10.1787/eag-2018-en
Ruble, D. N., Martin, C., & Berenbaum, S. (2006). Gender development. In N. Eisenberg (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Social emotional and personality development (pp. 858- 932). New York: Wiley.
Sadker, M., Sadker, D., & Klein, S. (1991). Chapter 7: The issue of gender in elementary and secondary education. Review of research in education, 17(1), 269-334.
Segal, M., Montie, J., & Iverson, T. J. (2000). Observing for individual differences in the social interaction styles of preschool children. In K. Gitlin-Weiner, A. Sandgrund, & C. Shaefer (Eds.), Play diagnosis and assessment, (2nd edition) (pp. 544-562). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Shapiro, C. A., & Sax, L. J. (2011). Major selection and persistence for women in STEM. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2011(152), 5-18. doi:10.1002/ir.404
Sullivan, A. A. (2016). Breaking the STEM Stereotype: Investigating the Use of Robotics to Change Young Children's Gender Stereotypes about Technology and Engineering (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest. (10118647).
The Institution of Engineering and Technology [IET], (2016, December 6). Parents, retailers and search engines urged to ‘re-think the pink’ next Christmas. Retrieved from http://www.theiet.org/policy/media/press-releases/20161206.cfm
Timmons, B. W., Naylor, P. J., & Pfeiffer, K. A. (2007). Physical activity for preschool children—how much and how? Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 32, 122-134. doi:10.1139/H07- 112
Turkish Ministry of National Education (2013). Early childhood education curriculum. Ankara: Turkish Ministry of National Education.
Weisgram, E. S., Fulcher, M., & Dinella, L. M. (2014). Pink gives girls permission: Exploring the roles of explicit gender labels and gender-typed colors on preschool children's toy preferences. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 35(5), 401-409. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2014.06.004
Wertheim, M. (2006, October 3). Numbers are male, said Pythagoras, and the idea persists. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com