Abstract:

This paper presents the pedagogical experience of the STEM Girls Research Clubs – CILAB, developed within the Complementary School Day Program (Jornada Escolar Complementaria – JEC) implemented by Colsubsidio, a Colombian family welfare organization, in Bogotá and the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. The initiative operates within a sociocultural context characterized by a limited engagement of students with STEM fields and by persistent gender gaps in participation in science and technology, where girls often show lower levels of involvement compared to their male peers.

Within this context, school research clubs have functioned as interdisciplinary learning spaces that foster scientific curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity. From this perspective, the STEM Girls Research Clubs – CILAB have been consolidated as an initiative aimed at promoting the interest and participation of girls and young women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), responding to the gender disparities that persist in these fields in the country.

The objective of this paper is to present the pedagogical implementation of this educational strategy and the methodological elements that structure it. The proposal integrates components such as Project-Based Learning (PBL), through which students formulate research questions, design experiments, build prototypes, and analyze environmental and social challenges from their local contexts. Additionally, the program incorporates a gender-sensitive approach aimed at strengthening girls’ connections with science and technology, while fostering the development of 21st-century skills. These learning experiences are developed from an interdisciplinary perspective oriented toward contextualized school research processes.

Among the main outcomes, the initiative has contributed to strengthening the scientific identity and capacities of girls and young women to participate in STEM-related fields, as well as to reducing gender gaps in these areas. At the institutional level, the strategy has enabled the implementation of research clubs in more than twenty municipalities across Bogotá and Cundinamarca. Furthermore, the clubs have participated in national and international science and technology competitions during 2025, collaborated with women scientists as mentors, and developed research projects focused on understanding real-world local challenges and designing creative solutions.

This experience contributes to the field of STEM education by demonstrating the potential of school research clubs as pedagogical strategies to promote early scientific vocations among girls, strengthening female participation in science and technology within local educational contexts.

Keywords:

STEM Education, Girls in STEM, Project-Based Learning, School Research Clubs, Gender-Sensitive Education.