On paper, Australia’s primary school students are doing better than ever in maths and science. International TIMSS results show Year 4 achievement at historic highs. But dig a little deeper and a familiar fault line appears.
From as early as primary school, boys are already outperforming girls in maths and science, while girls lead in literacy, according to national and international assessments.
Studies show these early gaps matter. Confidence, self-belief and attitudes toward STEM form young, and once they harden, they’re harder to shift. The message from experts is that if Australia is serious about closing the gender gap, it can’t wait until high school.
At Glendal Primary School in Melbourne, girls as young as eight are learning that they can thrive just as well as boys in STEM.
The school has been teaching robotics for around 17 years and competing Nationally and Internationally since 2010. Its competition teams include using Lego (Robocup and First Lego League) and, since 2022, VEX Robotics.
Catching confidence early
Principal Deborah Grossek says that with most of the competition teams being boys it was hard getting girls involved, so staff began thinking outside the box.
“In the Robocup programs when we choose a competition division that involves dance and ‘dressing up’ the robot, girls are far more interested with a greater representation in the teams,” Grossek told The Educator.
“We changed to VEX Robotics for our junior and senior robotics programs as we felt that the program overall was more inclusive for all students and that the competition level was achievable for a greater number of students. We also liked the Girl Power focus.”
Grossek said the school made a deliberate decision to intervene early, after recognising when students’ attitudes toward STEM begin to take shape.
“Since our involvement in VEX Robotics (post COVID), we followed their lead in the VEX Girl Power program to specifically target girls in our teaching program,” she said.
Designed to spark confidence and curiosity among girls through hands-on STEM experiences and visible role models, the VEX Girl Power program includes dedicated Girl Power Days with tailored STEM activities, pre-competition workshops featuring young women working in STEM, and fun, inclusive elements at competitions.
Grossek said the initiative was introduced after the school noticed boys were over-represented in teams and often dominated activities, while girls were less confident and their skills more likely to be overlooked.
“We started by introducing a Girl Power Day, related to the UN Day of the Girl Child in October every year. We have targeted our Year 3 girls as that is an ideal age to create interest and confidence in STEM at school.”
The school has since grown to holding 3-4 Girl Power/STEM Days each year, when groups of Year 3 girls rotate throughout the day and experience STEM activities, including: learning how to fly a drone; driving and manipulating VEX robots; programming a humanoid robot and a science activity.
“We also provide girls only STEM classes in Year 3 and recently in Year 4 as well.”
‘I feel like I have a chance to take charge’
The school’s Year 3 girls report feeling more included, calm, and confident as a result of the program.
“Boys the always taking over and they think they are the best, and when we want to have a turn, they won’t let me,” one student said. “But the girls are kind and don’t get upset, and we do better teamwork than the boys. Also, the boys don’t like being in partners with us, but girls are nicer and share turns.”
Another student said the girls-only sessions gave her the confidence to step up and be seen as a leader.
“I feel like I have a chance to take charge,” she said. “They can see how good we are, they are impressed with what we’ve done.”
Other girls reported a greater sense of agency, thanks to the program allowing them space to prove what they’re capable of.
“I don’t want to take over, but I feel I could have more of a turn now that they can see what we can do,” she said. “They [the boys] say they know more, but we have had a turn to show them what we know.”
Importantly, the program has given some girls the confidence to persist, problem-solve and back themselves in STEM spaces where they once felt overlooked.
“Normally when we do coding, I’m confused, the boys don’t help me, and even the girls used to shrug,” another girl said. “I’ve learnt to do it on my own now, and I know I can ask the girls for help, too.”
‘The excitement has been palpable’
STEM teacher Kearston Ives said they found the girls to be careful dutiful learners in the girls STEM class this year.
“When I teach boys, they are usually moving quickly through challenges, adapting and collaborating on the fly and the excitement has been palpable,” Ives said
“But with the girls it has been remarkably different, the girls have taken to challenges slower, breaking down steps to really understand intent and coding fundamentals and discuss ideas and strategies before jumping in.”
Ives said while the girls are initially quiet, discussing in partners, always negotiating, sharing and communicating effectively, the excitement is “a slow simmer” once their skills and confidence grow over multiple weeks.
“Whilst it is not an explosive excitement like the boys, having a supportive and nurturing environment has helped foster self-belief in their abilities to succeed and share their accomplishments and ideas,” Ives said.
‘Their mindset and self-efficacy have dramatically changed’
Ives said giving girls more choice in what they build has been key to keeping them engaged and willing to take risks.
“When given opportunities to choose their coding challenges, the interests of the girls have been in literacy, art and self-expression, we have been able to foster greater engagement and relatability whilst nurturing a safe space to share and collaborate on ideas,” she said.
“The success of this program goes beyond the technical skills acquired; their mindset and self-efficacy have dramatically changed.”
Ives said the first lesson with each class was the hardest as they were unsure and lacked any confidence or resilience in taking risks.
“After multiple sessions the girls are working independently, making their own coding choices, understanding how to read and adapt the code to what they want to do,” she said.
“It’s remarkable to see how hands off my teaching has been after working with them for multiple weeks.”
Ives said a lot of their interactions with the girls now are mostly sharing success, and ideas rather than showing or guiding them to solutions.
“Our Girls in STEM program is growing every year, and we have not forgotten the boys – they have their own program without the girls, which they thoroughly enjoy.”