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Is It Really a Paradox? A Mixed-Methods, Within-Country Analysis of the Gender Gap in STEM Education

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  • Islam Abu-Asaad

    (School of Education, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel
    Department of Education, Sakhnin Academic College, Sakhnin 3081000, Israel)

  • Maria Charles

    (Department of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9430, USA)

  • Yariv Feniger

    (School of Education, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel)

  • Gila Manevich-Malul

    (School of Education, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel)

  • Halleli Pinson

    (School of Education, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 8410501, Israel)

Abstract

It is well established that women’s representation in scientific and technical fields decreases with societal affluence, but the mechanisms underlying this so-called paradox remain contested. This study leverages distinctive features of the Israeli educational system to identify social psychological and organizational mechanisms driving contextual variability in the gendering of physics and computing subjects. Using in-depth interviews and original surveys, we compare gender gaps in ninth graders’ attitudes and aspirations across two highly segregated yet centrally administered state school sectors: one serving the socioeconomically marginalized Arab Palestinian minority, and one serving the Jewish secular majority. Results reveal curricular affinities, discourses, and course-taking patterns that are differentially gendered across school sectors. While boys and girls in Arab Palestinian schools report more instrumentalist motivations and more positive attitudes toward mathematically intensive fields, students in Jewish schools engage in highly gendered, self-reflexive discourses that support gendered course-taking. Findings support arguments positing gender-specific effects of postmaterialist, individualistic value systems, and suggest that the cultural and organizational processes that generate larger gender gaps in more affluent countries may also play out within countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Islam Abu-Asaad & Maria Charles & Yariv Feniger & Gila Manevich-Malul & Halleli Pinson, 2025. "Is It Really a Paradox? A Mixed-Methods, Within-Country Analysis of the Gender Gap in STEM Education," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-16, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:14:y:2025:i:4:p:238-:d:1634670
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gijsbert Stoet & David C Geary, 2022. "Sex differences in adolescents’ occupational aspirations: Variations across time and place," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(1), pages 1-18, January.
    2. Thomas Breda & Elyès Jouini & Clotilde Napp & Georgia Thebault, 2020. "Gender stereotypes can explain the gender-equality paradox," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 117(49), pages 31063-31069, December.
    3. Friedman-Sokuler, Naomi & Justman, Moshe, 2020. "Gender, culture and STEM: Counter-intuitive patterns in Arab society," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
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