22 July 2019
Researchers from KFU about age heterogeneity of STEM teachers

Recently, a paper Age Heterogeneity of STEM Educators has been published in EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education journal (Q2). One of the co-authors is Sibgatullina Tatiana, an assistant professor of Department of Higher Education Pedagogy from Institute of Psychology and Education KFU.

STEM education is gaining popularity in Russia and according to the Government, technical and engineering competencies should be given a priority. Therefore, the current study is highly relevant.

A survey conducted in 569 Russian schools in 2016-2018 showed that on average STEM teachers in the European part of Russia are generally 6.8 years older than the teachers in all Russia.

Authors commented that there is a shortage of STEM teachers under the age of 35 years. Furthermore, the research team also stated the uneven workload at schools, and specifically, teachers of mathematics have a heavy teaching workload.

The authors suggest that the paper can contribute to policies and management decisions which involve the age heterogeneity of teachers.