IJSSER

Title: UNPACKING THE GENDER DIFFERENCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION STEM BASED ON SPATIAL ABILITY DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Parinie Gupta
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Parinie Gupta Amity International School
MLA 8 Gupta, Parinie. "UNPACKING THE GENDER DIFFERENCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION STEM BASED ON SPATIAL ABILITY DEVELOPMENT." Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, vol. 7, no. 8, Aug. 2022, pp. 2579-2589, doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2022.v07i08.016. Accessed Aug. 2022. APA 6 Gupta, P. (2022, August). UNPACKING THE GENDER DIFFERENCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION STEM BASED ON SPATIAL ABILITY DEVELOPMENT. Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research, 7(8), 2579-2589. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2022.v07i08.016 Chicago Gupta, Parinie. "UNPACKING THE GENDER DIFFERENCES IN HIGHER EDUCATION STEM BASED ON SPATIAL ABILITY DEVELOPMENT." Int. j. of Social Science and Economic Research 7, no. 8 (August 2022), 2579-2589. Accessed August, 2022. https://doi.org/10.46609/IJSSER.2022.v07i08.016.
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ABSTRACT: There is gender disparity present in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education and workforce which has always been a matter of concern. Previous research study shows that according to the Gender Parity Index (GPI) in India, there is a steep underrepresentation of women in STEM courses of study. The dominant explanation for this trend is found to be the differences in the development of spatial ability in males and females. Many scientists have proved that early gender differences in spatial ability may contribute to the later emergence of gender differences in mathematics and science. The current study will take into account the status of men and women in STEM education. Then it aims to understand the concept of spatial ability and its various subsets like mental rotation and spatial cognitive processes to understand how it leads to a gender difference in attitude toward mathematics. After that, the paper will briefly explain the social, cultural, traditional, psychological, and neurological factors that contribute in the spatial ability gap. At the end of the paper, the study will provide solutions to how this variance in spatial ability can be reduced since early childhood and different gender-equity plans that can be adopted by appropriate authorities to increase the representation of women in STEM.

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