Assessing the Effects of Educational Policies, Teachers' Gender‐Sensitivity and Technological Integration on <scp>STEM</scp> Gender Gaps

ABSTRACT Despite increasing attention to gender disparities in STEM, there remains a lack of research exploring how educational policies, teacher gender sensitivity and technological integration specifically interact to influence these gaps. Hence, this study intends to examine the effects of educational policies, teachers' gender sensitivity and technological integration on STEM gender gaps, drawing on data from the TIMSS 2019 survey. A random‐effects generalised least squares (RE‐GLS) model is employed to analyse the data. The findings indicated significant gender disparities in mathematics and science scores, with male students achieving higher scores than their female counterparts. Furthermore, educational policies such as the official regulation on students' age of entry to primary school, policy resistance over time, the nationally mandated number of school days per year, the promotion and retention policy across grades, and the presence of national curriculum guidance documents for early childhood education and development (ECED) or pre‐primary education (PPE) programs are influencing the mathematics and science performance of students, particularly males. Moreover, female teachers are more likely to encourage the mathematics and science scores of male students, while male teachers have a greater influence on the mathematics and science scores of female students. In addition, integrating computers, the internet and educational technology into mathematics and science teaching is influencing the performance of both male and female students in these subjects.