Thursday 12th December 2024, 10am - 4pm

Institute of Advanced Study, Zeeman building, University of Warwick

This one-day interdisciplinary symposium aims to foster dialogue on gender roles and stereotypes in STEM and language while presenting potential educational tools and strategies to address these issues.

In the morning session, three guest speakers from various departments at Warwick University will provide diverse perspectives, covering topics such as education, institutional strategies, and AI. Following their presentations, we will introduce a pedagogical intervention we have developed for secondary school students in Italy including the LaleoLab board game. After an informal networking lunch, we will engage in a guided discussion about the challenges and benefits of translating and adapting the game into English, with the aim of forming a working group for those interested in collaborating.

Please register here by Friday, 6th December, to attend the event in person or online. MS Teams link will be sent three days before the event. Please note that the afternoon discussion will be held in person only.

Programme

Chair: Andreana Pastena (IAS & Department of Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick)

h 10am - 1pm - IAS Seminar room (C0.02)

• Sam Grierson (Education researcher & Co-Chair of the Gender Taskforce, University of Warwick)
  "Count me in: Gender and Inclusivity”

^{Efforts to address gender underrepresentation often hinge on what can be measured, evidenced, and influenced. Biases linked to gender have been widely discussed, and numerous policies and legislations have aimed to tackle these issues. Within education, including higher education (HE), various frameworks support gender equality, generating extensive data to guide change yet progress remains slow. This raises critical questions: can more be done, and is adopting an inclusivity-focused lens a more effective approach to achieving gender equity? This presentation aims to explore whether a broader lens of inclusivity could accelerate progress and considers additional actions that might enhance the effectiveness of current strategies.}

• Emma Smith (Department of Education, University of Warwick)
  “Invisible to science? Why we need more young women in STEM subjects”

^{Improving the recruitment, retention, and training of the next generation of STEM professionals is a priority for policy makers and employer organisations in countries around the world. However, the skills of this workforce have purportedly been both in short supply and inadequate for many decades, leading to the well-established narrative of STEM skill shortages. One solution to this challenge has been to encourage, through myriad policies and initiatives, more young people, particularly young women, to study more science for longer. This presentation summarises the results from several UK focused research projects that have examined trends in STEM participation at school and university and into early entry to the labour market. It then sets these findings alongside the results of a large-scale questionnaire study of young people’s aspirations for STEM careers. Together these studies show that encouraging more young women to study STEM shortage subjects with a view to entering highly skilled STEM jobs is no easy task.}

• Shweta Singh (Warwick Business School)
  “Responsible AI”

^{Responsible AI is essential for addressing complex societal challenges such as hiring bias, online harms, and safeguarding democracy. By embedding fairness and transparency into AI systems, companies can help reduce hiring biases that stem from historical inequalities, ensuring more equitable and inclusive recruitment processes. In protecting children online, responsible AI can play a pivotal role by identifying and blocking harmful content, filtering out inappropriate interactions, and promoting safer online environments. Finally, to safeguard democracy, AI can combat deepfakes by detecting and flagging manipulated media, preventing the spread of misinformation and fostering public trust in legitimate information sources. With these measures, responsible AI can contribute to a safer, fairer, and more democratic society.}

• Angela Gargano (Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics) & Antonella Liccardo (Department of Physics, University of Naples Federico II)
  “The Gender of Science: A game- and project-based pedagogical intervention for secondary schools”

^{Horizontal segregation in higher education is one of the key contributors to the gender gap, with men over-represented in STEM fields and women dominating areas such as humanities, education, and health – fields often associated with fewer career opportunities and lower prospects. To raise awareness about the role of gender-related issues in shaping academic and professional choices, interventions should be implemented at earlier stages of the educational path. This presentation illustrates a pedagogical initiative aimed at secondary students, “The Gender of Science” project. By using a scientific approach, students are encouraged to analyse and reflect on gender gaps within their own schools, peer groups and families. The intervention adopts a student-centred approach incorporating a gamification tool: the LaleoLab board game. The game plays a crucial role in participants’ engagement, while encouraging them to critically explore gender stereotypes and biases ingrained in languages and the influence of role models on identity formation.}

^{More information on the LaleoLab board-game may be found here.}

h 1pm - 2pm - Networking lunch

• Guided open discussion: “Adapting the LaleoLab board game: From Italian to English”

^{Following the success of the LaleoLab game in Italy, we aim to expand its reach by creating an English version. Translating the game is a crucial first step, as it could be used in UK classrooms and foreign language courses worldwide. In this guided open discussion, we will explore the challenges and benefits of adapting the LaleoLab board game into English. After the discussion, we hope to form a working group for those interested in contributing to this project. Please note that this session will be in-person only.}

The event is organized with the generous support of the Institute of Advanced Study.

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