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Gendered Dynamics in STEM Research Groups: Stereotypes, Role Allocation, and Female Students' Experiences at a Nigerian University
This study uses structuration theory to examine gendered dynamics within student-led STEM research groups at a Nigerian university. While gender disparities in STEM are well-documented, comparatively little attention has been given to the micro-level interactional processes through which gender inequalities are reproduced, negotiated, and occasionally challenged, particularly in non-Western educational settings. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with twenty STEM undergraduates, the study explores how group formation, role allocation, communication, and leadership practices influence participation in collaborative academic environments. The findings show that gender inequalities are perpetuated not primarily through formal exclusion, but through everyday interactional practices. Male students often initiate and control group formation through existing social networks, and role allocation follows assumptions that link technical competence and leadership with masculinity, and communicative or supportive work with femininity. Role allocation follows gendered norms that link technical competence with masculinity, thereby channeling women into administrative tasks while men accumulate technical skills. Female students, acting as knowledgeable agents, repeatedly described having to demonstrate and manage competence, as well as developing strategies to navigate and occasionally challenge gendered expectations. At the same time, accounts of more equitable practices demonstrate that alternative interactive arrangements are possible, and that the same processes capable of reproducing inequality may support more inclusive participation under different conditions. By focusing on student-led research groups as an understudied setting for STEM socialization, the study expands upon structuration theory by showing how reflexive agency functions within informal academic collaboration in a postcolonial context. The findings highlight the importance of considering informal group dynamics when trying to promote gender equity in STEM education.