Bringing more girls and women into science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEM, is often highlighted as an aim in education and industry. A constantly growing body of research on engagement is driven by equity concerns caused by the unbalanced gender distribution in STEM. In this study, Swedish teenage girls on a three-day technology camp are in focus. The camp was an initiative with three goals: “Get girls interested, keep girls interested and provide knowledge about futures within technology professions”. We explored the participating girls’ technological activities and conceptions of technology at the camp. Data collection was conducted through participant observations and a focus group interview. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and a gender theoretical framework. Results show the camp presented uncertain notions of what technology can be, and traditionally male-oriented domains were “girlified”. However, girlified activities might not have been constructive in this context since the girls expressed interest in technology before the camp and showed few signs of gendering technology – they liked all kinds of technology. Girlified technology can, at its worst, give a false image of the future industrial work life that the camp organiser aimed to inspire. Despite this, the camp activities were still meaningful and relevant to the girls. The camp created opportunities for the girls to develop their sense of being technical and a feeling of belonging. Implications for technology classroom settings and future camps are to value practical work and improvisational design without leaving the teaching unreflected. This could be a way of engaging and familiarising girls with the multifaceted world of technology without girlifying it. In addition, a broad conception of technology could make gender codes less relevant and open new opportunities.

This study describes a lesson with pre-service technology teachers within a STEAM environment in higher education. During the years we have worked with teacher preparation, we have seen students struggle to understand and define technology. This is also a known issue in our research field. By teaching technology through STEAM, we aimed to promote the students’ acquisition of technological knowledge and encourage thinking about technology. We chose aesthetic learning processes as a basis for this initiative. The concept of aesthetic learning processes has been developed within Scandinavian educational research and is often used in our specific teaching environment. Using clay and stop motion, the students were asked to express what technology meant to them as they manifested this physically. Stop motion is a technique for making films. We analysed the students’ films through inductive analysis, and the results showed us the extent of the technological content. The films were revealing, as the results showed that the students included very little technological content in the films, even though that was the aim of the task. We discovered that neither knowledge in science nor technology transferred into the students’ stop motion films. We had lost the T and E in STEAM. The study's findings can be applied as support in choosing content areas and teaching materials when engaged in interdisciplinary teaching.

Studies has shown girls being less interested and more negative towards technology but also on the potential for improving engagement, - if initiatives for females are taken in early ages. This study reports on an event where almost sixty girls, ages 10 and 11, helped solve real engineering problems for a leading manufacturer of construction equipment. The girls gathered for half a day at a university where they were scaffold by teams of university staff, engineering students and engineers from the manufacturer. In advance to the event, workshops were held to guide the participating adults, including the girl’s teachers, in the best practices and didactics in the research field of females’ interest in technology. This paper describes the process of engaging both adults and girls as well as the findings from the workshops, where recordings where taken up. The finding is that girls were engaged in finding solutions when adults were adapting didactics and providing real world problems. It also shows the strength of the diverse thinking, pushing the boundaries of future emerging technologies. This knowledge can be used by teachers or lecturers as guidance as they strive for technology to be an attractive school subject for girls. 

Gendered interest and engagement is an established research agenda in the field of technology education. With studies concluding girls being less interested and more negative towards technology. But also, on the potential for improving engagement, - if initiatives for girls are given in early ages. This study reports on a two-step initiative inspired by the research stages DS-I and DS-II of design research methodology, DRM.  

Step one was developing a concept based on the previous research findings on keeping girls engaged in technology education. Resulting in an out of school event at a university where university staff, engineering students and engineers from a manufacturer worked together to scaffold girls solving engineering problems. Problems provided by a local manufacturer of construction equipment. These problems where authentic, open-ended and provided opportunities for the girls to collaborate and create prototypes. Before the main event, workshops were held for the participating adults, and the girl’s teachers. Aiming to develop their familiarity of the research field of girls’ interest in technology and the subjects design process. The main event spanned half a day at the university and involved nearly sixty girls, ages 10 and 11. Data was analyzed using DS-II and theory of the three levels of gender. 

Following DRM, step two is built on the knowledge learnt from the first step. Instead of an out of school event 11-year-old girls now engage in problem solving during lessons in technology education. Solving the same problems as in step one. The girls are supported online by engineers and engineering students one hour every week. After four weeks, the girls will present their solutions to the involved manufacturer and university. The second step of the initiative is arranged during Mars and April 2021. All sessions are screen recorded and will be analysed using DRM and theory of the three levels of gender. Data and conclusions are to be presented when collected and processed. 

The initial findings from step one based on visual media and filed notes indicates girls are engaged in finding solutions when provided with real world problems and are scaffolded by adults. When asked six months after the event 70% of the participating girls reported to be interested in continuing studies in technology. As one of the girls said “I had no idea that I liked technology this much“. We also highlight the difference in views of technology and problem solving amongst the participating adults. As an example, the teachers wanted more technical complex problems to solve whilst the engineers had difficulties with not trying to solve the problems themselves. The study also brings forth how an initiative like this can be a link to helping teachers engage with professional practice and ensuring the subject is modern and relevant. The full paper aims to describe the DRM process of moving from theory to practice as well as presenting findings from the initiative. 

Teknikföretag behöver fler tekniker, ingenjörer och andra kreativa medarbetare både idag och i framtiden. För att det ska bli möjligt kan inte tekniska  utbildningar väljs bort av nästan halva befolkningen, i alla fall inte när det beror på saker som samhället har en möjlighet att påverka.

Vi talar naturligtvis om att bara en femtedel av alla elever på Teknikprogrammet på gymnasiet är tjejer och att andelen på ingenjörsutbildningar generellt bara är något högre. Vi riskerar en teknikutveckling som inte blir jämlik.

För att bidra till förändring i denna fråga arbetar vi på Teknikföretagen sedan flera år tillbaka aktivt med att få fler tjejer att välja teknik. Våra initiativ och satsningar sker inom en mängd olika områden, där kunskapsinhämtning och spridning är en viktig del, eftersom vi är många som behöver dra sitt till stacken. Rapporten du har framför dig är ett sätt för oss att dela med oss av kunskaper vi samlat på oss. Vi samarbetar sedan många år med analysföretaget Ungdomsbarometern, som på kvantitativ och kvalitativ väg genomfört mängder av studier kopplat till ungas teknikintresse och bilden av teknikutbildningar.

Genom att sammanställa några av de viktigaste insikterna från dessa studier, tillsammans med analyser och kommentarer från forskaren och teknikläraren Ulrika Sultan, hoppas vi inspirera fler till att reflektera kring varför det ser ut som det gör och till åtgärder som leder till att fler tjejer väljer teknikutbildningar och vill jobba med teknik – oavsett om det är i våra medlemsföretag eller någon annanstans.

This Work-in-Progress research paper describes preliminary work on a research agenda for emotions in engineering education. Emotions play an important role for teaching and learning in engineering education, but research on the topic is scarce. To spur research in this area, the authors participate in an international collaboration that aims to map existing research, identify questions that are under-researched, and outline important questions for future research on emotions in engineering education. In this paper, we describe preliminary work that has been done in preparation of an international symposium during which a first draft of the research agenda on emotions in engineering education will be developed. At FIE 2020, we will present both this preparatory work and the agenda itself.

Variance in interest and engagement by gender is a complex and long-standing research agenda in the field of technology education. Studies report that girls are more reluctant to participate in technology education, less interested in the subject and more negative towards technology than boys. It is argued that specific attitudes and roles hinder girls from engaging in technology education because technology is presented as a predominantly male domain, which fuels ideas about what technological agency is as well as whose interest in technology and what kind of technology are regarded as legitimate. There is, however, the potential to improve female engagement if we can gain knowledge about what girls do during lessons and how they think about themselves when learning technology. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the self-image of girls aged 9 to 12 when participating in primary technology education, by using Harding’s (1986) three gender levels: the symbolic, the structural and the individual. The methods used for this study were participant observations during technology classes followed by a focus group interview. From the perspective of Harding’s three levels of gender, the analysis of the observations and the focus group interview reveals that girls confirm the prevailing male norms and conceptions that are linked to what technology is and what it means “to be technical”, despite the fact that the teacher introduces gender-neutral activities. However, there is an ambiguity in our findings because the girls also resist the self-image of not being technical, especially when they work together and have ownership of their work with and learning about technology.

The aim of this study is to review internationally published scientific literature on the subject of girls’ engagement in technology education, in order to identify the most common descriptions of girls’ engagement with technology education, girls’ technological activities, and the relationship between girls and technology. After a scoping review of the literature, 20 relevant articles were identified and included in the study; they were analysed using content analysis. The results show that, according to the reviewed studies, girls are less interested in and have less positive attitudes towards technology (education) than boys. They are also less likely to choose a technology- or STEM-oriented occupa-tion. Several of the included studies venture possible explanations as to why this is and refer mainly to cultural factors. Those studies that do define the type of technology used in girls’ activities mostly describe a neutral, or male kind of “nuts and bolts” technology. As regards girls’ relationship to tech-nology, there is potential for improving female engagement using apparently simple means; for ex-ample, making sure the social context of teaching is adapted to girls. The results of the literature review are discussed in terms of their implications for future research and can be used as a guide for educators and researchers in the area. In particular, the reasons for girls’ lower interest in technolo-gy education compared to boys need to be further researched, and it may be that researchers need to study girls in their own right, not in perpetual comparison with boys, in order to come closer to an answer

In the field of technology education differences between girls and boys have been researched for some time but there is still a lack of knowledge about what exactly these differences consist of, and why they exist. The aim of this study is to explore tool use and self-image of girls aged 9 to12 when engaging in technology education. Data was collected over a course of two weeks, involving one Swedish compulsory school and three different classes with pupils aged 9 to 12. The data collection method used for this explorative study was unstructured observations made in-class during fourteen hours of teaching. Social identity theory is used as a theoretical framework to gain knowledge and clues as to why girls lose their interest in technology (education) as they get older. The results of the classroom observations revealed that, although the girls were not aware of it, they still confirmed gender stereotypes about girls and technology by e.g. adopting a social identity as not being technical. This study thus largely confirms the prevailing descriptions in previous research on girls and technology education.

Detta kapitel belyser de möjligheter som arbete utifrån ett genusperspektiv i teknikundervisningen kan skapa. Det kan handla om att i teknikundervisningen utmana föreställningar om vem som får vara den som är teknisk, att lyfta fram synsätt, beteenden, egenskaper, produkter, yrken och kunskaper som anses som lämpliga för kvinnor och/eller män och utforska dessa. Genom att som lärare stödja sig på studier om bland annat vad teknik kan vara för elever, flickors teknikande, betydelsen av lärarens kompetens och hur könsidentiteter skapas och formas kan fler elever få möjligheter att bibehålla sina teknikintressen genom skolåren. Att vara medveten om hur teknikintresse kan gestaltas på olika sätt skapar möjligheter till att skapa teknikundervisning som är intressant, roligt och viktig för alla elever. I jämförelse med pojkar självskattar sig flickor ofta som mer negativa till grundskolans teknikämne. Möjliga orsaker till denna negativa inställning till teknikämnet lyfts fram och några tankar om åtgärder för att vända det negativa till något positivt diskuteras. Kapitlets huvudsakliga fokus ligger på flick- ors teknikintresse och det återkommer genom hela kapitlet. 

The aim of this study is to review international published scientific literature on the subject of girls’ engagement in technology education, in order to: (a) identify what is the most common descriptions of the relationship between girls and technology, (b) identify how girls’ engagement in technology education is described, and (c) identify the type of technology concerned. After systematically searching a bibliographic database, 21 articles were located and included in the study. For each article, we have analysed the purpose of the study, the content of the research done, the research method used, and the sample characteristics and the results observed. The results of the literature review are discussed in terms of their implications for future research and can be used as guidance for educators and researchers in the area. This could lead to further questions, such as if a negative discourse around girls’ relationship with technology may assist or hinder girls’ engagement in technology and technology education

På vilket sätt kan kända barnvisor användas som utgångspunkt för att lära barn om teknik? Hur kan förskolläraren hjälpa barnen att skaa musikinstrument med hjälp av enklare vardagsföremål?  Kan barn lära sig nya saker om ljud genom att erbjudas möjlighet att experimentera med digitala verktyg? I detta kapitel fördjupar vi oss i ovanstående frågeställningar.