Can female tutors boost girls’ STEM interest, engagement, and performance?

By Feifei Wang, The Centre for Information Technology in Education, The University of Hong Kong

Persistent gender disparities in STEM remain, even when girls perform as well as boys. These disparities suggest the importance of challenging existing preconceived views about gender differences in STEM and highlight the need for role models who may help change these views. A recent study investigated whether female tutors in STEM-related subjects improve girls’ STEM interest, engagement, and math performance.

The researchers partnered with a New England school district where five high schools offered Algebra 1 tutoring to ninth-grade students. The students were placed into small groups (one to three students) and randomly assigned to match with either a female or male tutor. Initially, tutoring was planned as an in-person, school-day program. However, due to difficulties hiring enough local tutors, it was ultimately delivered in person at two schools and virtually at three others. The final analysis sample included 422 students taught by 23 tutors.

Results indicated that ninth-grade girls who learned from female math tutors reported markedly higher interest in STEM compared to those who learned from male tutors (a 0.73 standard deviation difference). No significant difference was found for tutoring assessments or attendance, likely due to measurement issues. The study highlights the potential of female tutors to serve as positive STEM role models, especially in early high school. Ensuring more opportunities for girls to work with female tutors in STEM may be a promising strategy to reduce gender disparities.