# The Impact of a STEM-based Entrepreneurship Program on the Entrepreneurial Intention of Secondary School Female Students

**Authors:** Mojtaba Shahin, Olivia Ilic, Chris Gonsalvez, Jon Whittle  
**arXiv:** [2012.03746](https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.03746)  
**Date:** 2020-12-04  
**Summary page:** https://www.summarizepaper.com/en/paper/2012.03746v2/

## Key points


## Summary

The field of entrepreneurship has been dedicated to researching and developing programs that can effectively impact the entrepreneurial intention of students in pre-university levels of study. However, there is still a lack of evidence-based knowledge on the effectiveness of such programs, particularly in addressing gender equity issues in STEM-focused entrepreneurship. To address this gap, the OzGirlsEntrepreneurship program was designed to explore the effects of a one-day female-focused STEM-based entrepreneurship program on the entrepreneurial intention of secondary school female students. The program encouraged girls aged 14-16 years to develop and implement creative computational solutions to socially relevant problems, with an Internet of Things (IoT) component using the micro:bit device. Data was collected from two surveys completed by 193 secondary school female students who participated in the program. The findings revealed that soft-skills development, particularly in creative thinking, risk-taking, problem-solving, and leadership development were key factors associated with developing entrepreneurial attitudes in young female students. Additionally, meaningful human connections such as positive role modelling and peer-to-peer learning were also important factors in fostering entrepreneurial intent. With these factors taken into consideration, it was found that the OzGirlsEntrepreneurship program substantially increased the entrepreneurial intention of secondary school female students. This study offers actionable implications and recommendations for developing and delivering entrepreneurship education programs for secondary school level students. It highlights the importance of incorporating soft skills development and meaningful human connections into such programs to effectively foster entrepreneurial intent among young female students. Overall, this research contributes significantly to addressing gender equity issues in STEM-focused entrepreneurship by providing evidence based insights into effective approaches for promoting entrepreneurial attitudes among young women.