fostering women’s engagement in stem through education: a cross-cultural academic-industry journey

Fostering Women’s Engagement in STEM Through Education: A Cross-Cultural Academic-Industry Journey uniquely intertwines academic rigour with real-world impact, offering a comprehensive exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences forged through the Partnership for Innovation in Employability (PIE) programme. The PIE programme, funded by the British Council, is aimed at nurturing innovation and facilitating interaction to enhance employability within educational robotics.

This book brings together participating universities and industry partners from across the world to celebrate and share a variety of case studies showcasing the application of STEM education in various settings - from industrial to primary education. It not only illuminates successes, but critically evaluates challenges faced, and concludes with a look to the future for women in STEM education, research, and professional roles.

Key features:

- Offers a comprehensive, global perspective on the challenges and opportunities in promoting gender equality and diversity in STEM fields through education and outreach programmes, featuring case studies from Wales and Malaysia.

- Provides actionable insights and recommendations for educators, policymakers, and stakeholders to develop and implement effective strategies for bridging the STEM gender gap and fostering inclusivity in education.

- Explores innovative pedagogical approaches, such as game-based learning using traditional folk games, and the integration of cutting-edge technologies (e.g. collaborative robots) to engage learners from diverse backgrounds.

This serves as a key resource for individuals engaged in professions connected to and researching STEM education, especially those dedicated to promoting and enhancing women’s involvement in these fields.

Dr Esyin Chew is the Director of EUREKA Robotics Centre with more than 120 robots, one of the 11 specialist robotics centres in the UK for research facilities, successfully developed 8 Wales Tokku Zones in the UK and Asia with real-world social-educational and healthcare robotics experiments. She is a Reader in Robotics and Educational Technologies, who provide consultancy and training; a keynote speaker for many international conferences in robotics and EduTech; an editor and reviewer for peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings in the related field. Esyin is a creative academic investigating humanoid service robotics with machine learning capability for impact case studies and has led government and industrial funded projects from the EU, Australia, Malaysia and the UK, over 150 R&D outputs and 6 national policy impact publications.

Anwar P.P. Abdul Majeed is an Associate Professor at the School of Engineering and Technology with an experience in transnational education. He is a Chartered Engineer with IMechE, a member of IET, and a Senior Member of IEEE. With over 200 publications and editorial roles in prestigious journals and book series, Dr. Anwar is committed to advancing knowledge in the application of machine learning and deep learning in different domains. He is also actively engaged in professional societies, alumni networks and contributes to the scientific community through his involvement in the Young Scientists Network of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.