Student attraction, persistence and retention in university STEM fields: successes and challenges

Abstract

As explicitly stated in SDG 5, STEM Education seeks gender equality. This study explores the impact of STEM on achieving gender equality and eliminating gender disparity in male and female enrollment and graduation from STEM-related fields in UAE universities. Data were collected from student records at a federal university for all graduate and undergraduate students who enrolled and graduated with a STEM degree between 2010 and 2022. Results showed differences among students in the four dependent variables: national female students, national male students, non-national female students, and non-national male students. Notably, a higher mean enrollment score was recorded for national female students compared to the other groups. Regarding the graduation rate, differences were observed only between non-national female and male graduates. Finally, differences were observed among all four variable groups based on the degree program, with a notably low graduation rate at the doctoral level.

Keywords

• STEM education
• gender
• sustainable development goals (SDGs;), enrollment
• graduation rates
• educational policy
• Education Policy & Politics