From awareness to action: a three-phase model for gender-sensitive STEM teaching

Abstract Gender bias compromises both technical robustness and social equity in engineering, yet systematic training in recognising and mitigating such bias remains rare in STEM curricula. This study proposes the SEE framework (Sensitising, Equipping, Empowering) as a practicable model for integrating gender and intersectional analysis into engineering education. A multiple-case study compared two German seminars (“Hacking Innovation Bias”, TU Berlin; “Gendered Aspects of Engineering”, TU Braunschweig). Course artefacts, classroom observations, and a focus-group interview with six instructors were analysed thematically and mapped against established criteria for high-quality teaching. As a qualitative design centred on two cases and an instructor focus group, the study primarily captures teaching practice and reflective accounts. Despite different formats, both seminars independently converged on a three-phase sequence. Sensitising uses discipline-specific case studies and artefact critiques to establish the relevance of gender. Equipping drills methodological competence—literature mapping around structures, products and processes at Braunschweig; critical making and speculative design at Berlin. Empowering turns insight into agency through self-created manifestos or technological prototypes that publicly expose bias. The SEE framework thus emerged as a shared, experience-based pattern that balances conceptual depth with hands-on engagement and adapts to varying credits, schedules, and student profiles. While the evidence is qualitative and drawn from a German context, SEE synthesises dispersed best practices into a transferable heuristic. It offers instructors clear “pressure points” without prescribing content, making it adaptable to disciplinary constraints and institutional regulations. Implemented alongside supportive measures such as ECTS parity, certificate pathways, and administrative anchoring, SEE can expedite compliance with Horizon Europe’s gender-dimension requirement and foster a new cohort of engineers capable of designing technologies that serve diverse users. Further controlled evaluations are encouraged to test learning gains and long-term behavioural impact.