From Policy to Participation: Gendered Classroom Dynamics in Stem Higher Education

Abstract

This article examines the discursive practice of gender equality policies within the classroom setting of higher education, and how gender equality operations influence the participation, engagement and access to educational and career directions of students, especially in STEM fields. With the applied linguistic approach, it explores the intersection of gender with other forms of social divisions, such as academic discipline, institutional status and linguistic background to determine how these factors can affect classroom dynamics in both technology-based and lecture-based university classes. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study integrates student comments from the European University of Armenia and Yerevan State University with interactional and corpus-assisted analysis of classroom speech and critical discourse analysis of institutional gender-equality policy texts. In this way, both macro-level policy intentions and micro-level classroom interactions can be studied and allow understanding the holistic picture of how institutional directives are applied into the everyday teaching and learning practices. The article is aimed, in particular, at studying whether and how the inclusive policy language is implemented in classroom participation, authoritative and expertise negotiation, development of academic confidence and sense of belonging within students. The results indicate that there is an overlap that occurred over the years between the language of policy texts and the discursive realities of classrooms. In many ways, policies emphasize gender equity, but the dynamics in classroom often stifle subtle gendered and disciplinary hierarchies that define who speak, what is valued and how students see themselves as having the potential to participate in STEM disciplines. Compounded barriers to full engagement are frequently faced by non-native speakers, women and nontraditional students with regard to their enrollment status, which underscores the relevance of intersectional analysis. The article elucidates the primary place of language in mediating gender educational experiences. It puts forward intersectionally enlightened and linguistically focused pedagogical and policy practices that reflect the intricate relationship among identity, discipline, and classroom dynamics. The results show that meaningful equity in higher education cannot be achieved only by focusing on the design of the institutional policies but also by considering the daily interactions in which authority, participation and belonging are practiced.