Title

Can STEM outreach activities help address gaps in the STEM pipeline? Exploring an Irish primary school case study

Author

ICGS

Year Published

2025

Description

A new case study based on primary school girls’ attitudes towards STEM in Ireland takes important steps in considering ways to address disengagement and loss of interest in STEM. Researchers from the University of Limerick and University of Galway have developed this article to respond to the gap in the STEM “pipeline”, which has become a well-recognised source of a “lack of participation, progression, and achievement in STEM education for females” (Johnson et al., 2025, p. 221). Previous research based on these gaps and possible interventions have often focussed on “only one or two STEM disciplines” (Johnson et al., 2025, p. 221). This article goes further to consider all four disciplines through a case study of a STEM outreach activity and its impact on Irish primary school girls’ attitudes towards STEM (Johnson et al., 2025, p. 221).

The article discusses “STEM outreach”, which is used to “classify activities that are delivered ‘outside of the traditional student/teacher relationship to STEM stakeholders (students, parents, teachers…) in order to support and increase the understanding, awareness and interest in STEM disciplines’” (Johnson et al., 2025, p. 224). This case study is based on the Spaceship earth project, a project run between the University of Galway, University of Limerick and the Irish meteorological service Met Éireann. The project engaged students in real-world, project-based experiments in the classroom with the intention of engaging and educating teachers, students and the public about STEM. Students developed their own experiments that involved “launching high-altitude balloons to the edge of space”, before analysing and reporting on their experiment (Johnson et al., 2025, pp. 224-225). It also included workshops for students where they could explore STEM project ideas.

While multiple schools were initially involved in the project, due to withdrawal from various aspects of the research, the case study is based on one all-girls school located in the west of Ireland. Fifty-one students from the school participated in the study, all aged between nine and ten years. Due to pandemic restrictions at the time, some parts of the project were converted to run online, which included the workshops. The research also involved pre- and post-project surveys to better understand the impact of the outreach activity on girls’ attitudes.

Before participating, the researchers observed that all girls had a positive attitude generally towards STEM. However, the age of the students in the study is consistent with the stage where this attitude has been shown to change. After participating in the project, there was no significant change in these attitudes. This was viewed as an “encouraging result” due to the presence of positive attitudes prior to participation, and continuation of these results, especially in light of a typical negative change at this point in time (Johnson et al., 2025, p. 230). Despite this outcome, the authors noted a particular concern regarding a decline in girls’ attitudes specifically towards science as a STEM discipline over the course of the study. This reflects some similarities to other research. While this outcome is not specific to this study, it highlights the need to consider specific STEM subjects, including attitudes and required interventions, in addition to STEM itself as a broader study area.

While a relatively small study, these outcomes are important for schools and educators, as they show the potential benefits of a STEM outreach activity on girls’ attitudes towards STEM generally. This is especially worthy of consideration given that the girls who participated in this project retained their positive attitudes toward STEM at a time when research shows this typically declines. While the authors note that a larger-scale project could provide additional insight into this finding, this is a useful outcome for schools to consider when planning interventions for girls. Until further research is forthcoming, the authors additionally suggest that between the ages of ten and 14 these outcomes and attitudes are nonetheless monitored closely due to the risk factors of declining positivity towards STEM (Johnson et al., 2025, p. 229). The researchers also suggest that educators and school leaders consider how outreach activities intersect with the traditional school curriculum. Rather than assuming that each operates in isolation, this provides a space to consider how these different activities interact as part of a broader approach.

A key challenge identified in the project is the specific decline in positive attitudes towards science , even as overall STEM attitudes remained stable. One way to address the decline in specific STEM subjects (rather than STEM overall) is to ensure learning is “more evenly distributed across each of the STEM disciplines” (Johnson et al., 2025, p. 231). This highlights a need to enhance girls’ proficiency in each subject in order to e

Type

Research Report

Research Category

Learning

Single Sex Education

Teaching

STEM & STEAM

Year of Study

2025

Identifier

47088