Nurturing Women's Participation in STEM: An Analysis of Australian, Indian and Singaporean Government Policies and Programs

Abstract

This thesis makes a contribution to the field of feminist comparative policy with a focus on the role played by gendered discursive policy framing. The thesis is written from within the field of political studies; however, it provides insights from areas including gender studies, sociology and technology studies. The thesis examines Australian, Indian and Singaporean government policies and initiatives designed to increase the participation of girls and women in STEM education and occupations. Examined governments include the Australian federal government under Scott Morrison, the Indian government under Narendra Modi and the Singaporean government under Lee Hsien Loong. The thesis has analysed government policies and programs which were active as of February 2022. The thesis explores how historical, social, cultural, political and economic factors have shaped policies and programs for women in Australia, India and Singapore. It also assesses how the governments of these three respective states have been similarly influenced by neoliberal principles that encourage women to pursue entrepreneurial roles, a pathway made easier because of technological advances. The key research questions that this thesis addresses include: how have Australian, Indian and Singaporean governments attempted to increase the representation of women in STEM? Do those policies include any flaws that have limited their potential effectiveness? How can Australian, Indian and Singaporean governments strengthen policies and initiatives, and further improve on attempts to increase women representation in STEM? Are there lessons that the respective countries can learn from one another? In order to answer the above research questions, the thesis will draw on relevant literature that analyses issues such as women and science, women and employment, women in Australia, India and Singapore, and gender and government policy. Given its subject matter, feminist theoretical and empirical analyses of women’s underrepresentation in science and technology have proved to be particularly relevant to this thesis. Australian, Indian and Singaporean governments have implemented some highly beneficial policies and programs, including the Australian federal government’s Young Indigenous Women’s academy, and India’s KIRAN scheme. While the Singaporean government has not implemented many policies and programs designed exclusively for women in STEM due to its officially de-gendered meritocratic approach, it has created a range of general schemes that also aim to benefit women wishing to pursue STEM education. However, by employing feminist analytical approaches, including a gendered discursive policy framing analysis approach, the thesis argues that the examined Australian, Indian and Singaporean policies and programs contain flaws that can potentially undermine attempts to increase the STEM participation rate for girls and women. In particular, the Australian, Indian and Singaporean policies and programs studied have been influenced by neoliberal ideology which limits the government’s policymaking role because neoliberal ideology maintains that women are primarily responsible for their own economic and social position. Moreover, Australian policymakers have neglected to establish an evidence base for evaluating programs for girls and women in STEM. The Indian government has not adequately addressed the fact that most women in STEM are largely responsible for the care of children and elderly family members due to prevalent social factors. Furthermore, the Indian government has reinforced this idea with few policies directed at Indian men wishing to assist with familial demands. The Singaporean government’s meritocratic approach has not addressed gendered barriers that can deter women from obtaining a STEM education or career. The Singaporean government has also been contradictory in its view of women’s roles given that policymakers have sometimes prioritised fertility policies over employment ones. Based on such analyses, the thesis will provide some suggestions on how the examined schemes to increase women’s participation in STEM education and occupations could be improved, as well as explore additional policies and programs that could be implemented. It will also note that, despite diverse cultural influences and differing women’s participation rates, there are still useful lessons that the three countries can learn from each other and that provide useful contributions internationally. Indeed, by analysing three diverse countries from the Indo-Pacific region that are often neglected in research on women and STEM, the thesis makes an original contribution to the existing academic literature in the field.