An Exploration of Students’ Attitudes Towards STEM and Climate Change: A Cluster Analysis Study with a Gender Perspective

The last decades have seen a growing political and social recognition of the role of education as a key player in transforming today’s society towards more sustainable lines. Particularly, STEM education is seen as critical for promoting the acquisition of skills, knowledge, and competencies that contribute to create climate change and sustainability solutions among secondary school students. However, gender differences in students’ attitudes towards STEM could hinder the success in this regard. The aim of this research was to identify secondary school students’ profiles according to their STEM and climate change attitudes to explore the relationship between those two areas and students’ gender. From the analysis of the answers to a questionnaire distributed among 407 secondary school students, we conducted a hierarchical cluster analysis in which five main clusters were found. Within these clusters, gendered differences associated to traditional stereotypes were identified, such as girls expressing higher concern about climate change and lower level of interest towards STEM, and boys showing less interest towards climate change, but a more positive attitude towards STEM, especially in engineering and in technology. The study results shed light on the need to develop more inclusive educational initiatives that better contribute to the achievement of STEM and climate change education from a mutual enrichment.