Dear Colleagues,

Many countries have a diversified population. This diversity is amplified by the ongoing trend of immigration, migration, and refugee resettlement. Students with different genders and cultural and social backgrounds have different needs in terms of support in learning (He et al, 2019, Zhou & Zhang, 2014). The standardized delivery of the pre-scripted curriculum has demonstrated its inability to address different learning needs. Society has called for changes to the role of an educator from offering textbook-based instruction to inspiring and facilitating the education of students in a meaningful way (Rodriguez, 2013) so that all learners will have a chance to reach their full potential (Council of Ministers of Education Canada, 2012).

Unfortunately, black people, indigenous people, people of colour, women, and other marginalized groups continue to be under-represented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields (Baker & Vasseur, 2021; Henry et al., 2017). This is partially due to the fact that STEM education has historically privileged individualistic and solitary practices which do not regard cultural, racial, and gender diversity (Ong et al., 2017).

Students and community members believe that the STEM program is not designed for all; instead, it has been designed for academically high achievers or those with interest in science and mathematics. In addition, teachers have expressed concerns about non-inclusive STEM pedagogy not meeting the needs of diverse learners in their classrooms, especially those with disabilities and cognitive challenges (Park et al., 2017). The under-representation of people of colour in STEM has reached crisis proportions. The crisis is exacerbated when we examine how gender and race serve to marginalize women of colour in STEM fields. STEM is practically unaffordable for a socially disadvantaged population (Razi & Zhou, 2022), and this raises the issue of how to implement STEM in a socially just way.

Clandfield and Martell (2014) conclude that “Girls’ academic accomplishments have been very much slanted away from the areas of math and sciences—a skewing maintained throughout their secondary and post-secondary schooling careers” (p. 232). Moreover, even female students who perform well in STEM subjects often lack the confidence required to pursue a STEM-related career with persistence. Legewie and DiPrete (2014) pointed out that most researchers regard the stage of college as an explanation of the gender gap in career trajectories. However, boys’ and girls’ exposure to stereotypes happens during their early childhood, much earlier than university years (He et al, 2019; Tai et al, 2006). Adolescence is a more salient period both for identity formation and career aspirations (Master, Cheryan, & Meltzoff, 2015). We believe this applies to the inequitable issues with other marginalized groups as well. The lack of diversity in STEM may result from many systemic barriers that appear during childhood and not only persist, but add up over time.

This Special Issue aims to provide a space for education scholars and practitioners to share their research and practice in Widening Participation and Diversity in STEM Education. The Special Issue welcomes conceptual and empirical papers presenting recent advancements in research, theory, policy and practice on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in STEM Education. Submissions incorporating action research, program evaluations, case studies and quantitative and/or qualitative method of analysis are welcome, as well as approaches that focus on interdisciplinary or subject-specific approaches to STEM.

We invite submissions addressing topics including, but not limited to:

• Female under representation in STEM fields;
• Black, indigenous and people of colour in STEM fields;
• Inclusion of people with special needs in STEM education;
• Decolonization of STEM education;
• Innovative curriculum and pedagogy for EDI;
• Leadership diversity in STEM education;
• Use of technology to promote EDI in STEM education.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. George Zhou
Dr. Judy Xu
Guest Editors

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• STEM
• EDI
• science education
• disengagement
• indigenous education
• black education
• people of colour
• gender inequality
• innovative pedagogy