In the past two decades, despite their improved access to education, women remain underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). According to UNESCO (2017, pp. 18-20), between 2014 and 2016, the global average enrolment figures of female university students in the fields of “information and communication technologies” and “engineering, manufacturing and construction” constituted only 28% and 27% respectively. Similar situation can be found in Hong Kong. From 2011 to 2017, females have been the minorities in programmes of ‘sciences’ and ‘engineering and technology’, standing at around 35% to 39% and 29% to 33% respectively.Studies have identified various factors contributing to women’s under-representation in STEM. Barriers identified include the alignment of science culture and curriculum with masculinity (Archer, et al., 2016), the identity tensions for young girls when they do science (Faulkner, 2007; Gonsalves 2014), teachers’ bias (Carlone, 2003; Warrington and Younger, 2000), and lack of science capital (Francis, et al., 2017) This paper contributes to the current discussion by examining secondary school students’ narratives towards their STEM choice.We conducted eight focus group interviews (N=56), comprising female and male students who have chosen more or less STEM subjects in their Diploma of Secondary School Examination (DSE, which is a public examination leading to university admission). Our findings indicate that some prominent gendered beliefs prevail amongst Hong Kong students, including “boys are more sensible whereas girls are more sensitive”; “only boys are endowed with math sense – the natural ability to do math”; “girls only work hard but have no math sense”; and “girls that are good at math are exceptional or abnormal”. These gender stereotypical and male-dominated beliefs are particularly damaging to female students, as they undermine their self-efficacy and learner-identities. Copyright © 2020 International Conference

Women’s access to education has significantly improved in recent decades; however, the gender skew in STEM subjects – the underrepresentation of female students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics – persists. The phenomenon is even more noticeable in the advanced economies. In this study, we examine factors at individual, peer, and family levels in contributing to students’ choices of STEM electives in the secondary school curriculum, and their intentions to choose STEM as their preferred choice of university majors and career orientations.Data of this study come from a representative survey of Secondary 5 (11th Grade) students in Hong Kong (Ni=2, 807 students; Nj=43 schools). Our data show that female students are not only less likely to take STEM-related electives in the DSE curriculum (the mainstream curriculum leading to university entrance), but also more likely than male students to leak out from the STEM pipeline in the later stages. That is, even female students have taken STEM-related electives in the secondary schools, they are less likely to pursue STEM majors in higher education or a career in the STEM fields. Regression results show that gender differences in the subject self-concepts, preference on job characteristics, and stereotypical beliefs towards STEM are the key factors to women’s low intention to choose STEM fields in education. Gender stereotypes towards STEM also hinder female students from continuing their pursuit of science in university. Despite similar academic performance, female students tend to hold a lower level of self-concept on science-related subjects than male students. Meanwhile, school-related factors exert an indirect effect on the subject choice mostly through affecting students’ subject self-concept and stereotypical belief towards STEM. Our findings suggest that more measures have to be taken to change female students’ perceptions about science and improve teaching so that female students’ confidence can be