Top of the Class, Missing from the Lab: Italy’s STEAM Paradox

By Scuola di Robotica, Genoa (Italy) – EITIC-EU Project Partner

In Italy, girls and young women are doing better than ever at school and university. Yet when it comes to science, technology and engineering, many of them still end up somewhere else. As the Italian partner of EITIC-EU, we looked at what the latest official data say about our country, and why the 10–16 age group is exactly where the work needs to happen.

More graduates, fewer STEM graduates

According to ISTAT, the Italian National Institute of Statistics, women in Italy are more educated than men. In 2024, 25.9% of women aged 25–64 held a tertiary degree, compared with 18.7% of men.

The picture changes when we look at what they study. Among graduates aged 30–34, 36.9% of men hold a STEM degree, compared with only 15.0% of women. In just one year, the male share rose by 2.1 points while the female share fell by 1.1.

This is not about job prospects. The same ISTAT report shows that STEM graduates aged 30–34 have the highest employment rate of any field of study (88.9%). For women with a STEM degree the rate is 86.9%. The opportunities are there; too few girls are choosing the path that leads to them.

What the new PISA results tell us

The OECD published the PISA 2025 results in September 2026. They show that Italian 15-year-old girls and boys now perform practically the same in science: the 3-point difference is not statistically significant. In mathematics a gap remains, with boys ahead by 17 points, above the OECD average of 13. In PISA 2022 the maths gap in Italy was 21 points, one of the widest in the OECD.

A gap that disappears in one subject and persists in another, and that varies so much from country to country, is hard to explain with talent. After PISA 2022, the OECD concluded that gender differences in achievement are neither innate nor inevitable. Confidence, expectations and the examples girls see around them all play a part.

What Italian schools are being asked to do

In 2023 the Italian Ministry of Education and Merit adopted national Guidelines for STEM subjects (Ministerial Decree 184/2023). From the 2023/24 school year onwards, every school, from pre-primary to upper secondary, must include actions to strengthen STEM and digital skills in its educational plan. The Guidelines recommend active methods such as problem-based learning, design thinking, tinkering, hackathons, debate and inquiry-based learning. They also explicitly encourage schools to involve girls in STEM and overcome gender stereotypes, for example through activities with families around the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

The National Recovery and Resilience Plan backed this with funding for STEM projects in schools. These projects must guarantee equal opportunities and gender equality in STEM guidance, with a target of at least 8,000 schools involved by June 2025.

Where EITIC-EU fits in

Policy sets the direction, but change happens in classrooms. EITIC-EU works with girls aged 10–16, before they choose their upper secondary track and, later, their university studies. The project does this in three ways:

• Women role models: real stories of scientists, engineers and innovators that make STEAM careers visible and relatable.
• Open Educational Resources: hands-on, collaborative activities that teachers can use right away, also available in Italian.
• A Methodological Handbook: a step-by-step framework to help teachers design STEAM activities that are inclusive of girls, also available in Italian.

Many of these activities rely on the same active, problem-based approach the national Guidelines recommend. For Italian teachers looking for concrete ways to put the Guidelines into practice, they are a ready-made starting point.

Looking ahead

Italian girls have already closed the gap in science. The challenge now is making sure they also see a place for themselves in mathematics, engineering and technology, and that no one convinces them otherwise.

References

• ISTAT (2025, 3 December). Livelli di istruzione e ritorni occupazionali – Anno 2024. istat.it (last access September 2026)
• OECD (2026). PISA 2025 Results (Volume I): Future-Ready Students. doi.org/10.1787/73451bc5-en. Country note – Italy (last access September 2026)
• OECD (2023). PISA 2022 Results (Volume I): The State of Learning and Equity in Education. doi.org/10.1787/53f23881-en (last access September 2026)
• Ministero dell’Istruzione e del Merito (2023). Linee guida per le discipline STEM (DM 184, 15 September 2023). mim.gov.it (last access September 2026)
• Ministero dell’Istruzione e del Merito – PNRR. Piattaforma STEM. pnrr.pubblica.istruzione.it (last access September 2026)
• Ministero dell’Istruzione e del Merito (2023). Avviso PNRR – Azioni di potenziamento delle competenze STEM (DM 65/2023). pnrr.istruzione.it (last access September 2026)