STEM education faces several challenges in providing students with the complementary skills and knowledge needed to prepare them for an increasingly uncertain future. Student-led organisations (SLOs) are considered as one of the best ways to complement classroom learning through a hands-on approach. This systematic literature review aims to understand the different types of student-led organisations, the main barriers, drivers and the outcomes for students, higher education institutions (HEI) and society in general. The findings highlight that SLOs are relevant for the development of students’ “soft” skills, global awareness, and employability. Also, they play an important role in increasing student engagement and retention, especially in underrepresented groups (such as women or latino(a)s). Finally, the review highlights the need for more research on this topic to improve HEIs’ support of these organisations.

STEM education faces several challenges in providing students with the complementary skills and knowledge needed to prepare them for an increasingly uncertain future. Student-led organisations (SLOs) are considered as one of the best ways to complement classroom learning through a hands-on approach. This systematic literature review aims to understand the different types of student-led organisations, the main barriers, drivers and the outcomes for students, higher education institutions (HEI) and society in general. The findings highlight that SLOs are relevant for the development of students’ “soft” skills, global awareness, and employability. Also, they play an important role in increasing student engagement and retention, especially in underrepresented groups (such as women or latino(as). Finally, the review highlights the need for more research on this topic to improve HEIs’ support of these organisations.

Despite being considered a reservoir of entrepreneurial talent and an engine of growth, women are less likely to consider careers in engineering and/or entrepreneurship. Policymakers suggest that, in order to target effectively under-represented groups, such as women, entrepreneurship education and related experiences should be examined in particular so specific policies and programs can be created. Nevertheless, there is limited knowledge of women engaged in entrepreneurship in the case of the STEM field, and few studies explore the effects of entrepreneurial learning experiences on entrepreneurial attitudes and behavior. By analyzing a sample of engineering students, this study confirms the gender gap in entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions. Besides, it confirms the importance of entrepreneurial learning experiences (in this case junior enterprises) not only for the development of engineering students' entrepreneurial attitudes and intention but also to close the gap between men and women regarding social norms and perceived behavior control. This study provides several implications for both researchers and higher education, by contributing to a very limited and fragment literature on the topic of women entrepreneurs in STEM, by suggesting several further research avenues and by providing several recommendations to promote learning by doing approaches in higher education.