Biological versus Feminists Perspectives on Girls' Underperformance in STEM Subjects in Pakistan

Raza Ullah (), Hazir Ullah () and Muhammad Bilal ()

Liberal Arts and Social Sciences International Journal (LASSIJ), 2020, vol. 4, issue 1, 10-18

Abstract: This article outlines the biological essentialists’ versus feminists’ explanations of girls’ underperformance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Historically, except in the contexts of some developed countries, boys dominated girls in STEM subjects. Biological essentialists associate girls’ underperformance in STEM with the innate differences between men and women, whereas feminists attribute it to social factors. The issue, however, is not so easily solved and there is an ongoing debate between biological essentialists and feminists. This article, thus, engages in a comparative analysis of the two approaches, their underlying principles and the empirical evidences they use to substantiate their stance. The analysis of both approaches enables the authors to better decipher the connection between gender and education performance. This article explains that social rather than biological factors influence girls’ performance in STEM subjects. The article concludes that girls’ underperformance in STEM subjects' results from sociocultural factors.

Keywords: Biological Essentialists; Feminists; Underperformance in Education; STEM; STEM Subjects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aui:lassij:v:4:y:2020:i:1:p:10-18:id:59

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