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Girls dissuaded from choosing Physics at A-level (BBC Breakfast, 9th Dec 2013) )

Stephen Booth
Did anyone else see the item on Physics A-level on BBC Breakfast this morning?  Apparently girls choosign their A-Levels are being actively discouraged from choosing it by their teachers on the grounds that it's not a girls subject.  Fortunately I wasn't eating or drinking at the moment that was said else my TV and the wall around it my have gotten a brand new coating.  Apparently the only STEM subject deemed suitable for the delicate sensibilities of young ladies, by their teachers, is Biology.



They did report that whilst schools with no sixth form (so pupils have to go to a college or another school) tend to be very poor in supporting girls in choosing Physics A-Level where the school has it's own sixth form a higher proportion of girls do choose to study Physics as they can often see girls from the previous 2 years doing the subject so the "Physics isn't for girls" arguement is weakened.


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    Rosanna,



    I didn't do Physics at A-level (I think it was I was advised to do Statistics instead as I was only doing CSE Maths (rather than O-Level)  due to an administrative foul up at my school, that didn't include some of the material (mostly algebra and calculus I later discovered) that was assumed for Physics A-level) but the ratio you mention was about that of my O-Level Physics class.  The teacher there was pretty uninspiring, he tried but just didn't connect with his pupils.



    I'm a volunteer with Inspiring the Future (www.inspiringthefuture.org/) who aim to connect schools who want someoen to come in to talk about careers with people who will go into schools and talk about careers.  If you've been going in to schools to promote engineering you might want to give them a look. 



    I've also seen people put off engineering because they think it's a dirty job.  The image of an engineer is still that of a mechanic in greasy overalls or a construction worker in a hard hat and cement stained hi-vis trousers.  The majority of engineers I know work in offices on computers, if they wear greasy overalls it's generaly because they have a hobby of restoring vintage cars, motorbikes or steam trains and the nearest they get to cement is when they decide to relay the patio.  Being a doctor probably is a 'dirty' job, a nurse even dirtier (especially now that hospitals are cutting healthcare assistant posts).  I don't doubt that there are dirty jobs in engineering, but do doubt they're the majority (especially when you factor in IT as an engineering specialism).



    Stephen


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    Rosanna,



    I didn't do Physics at A-level (I think it was I was advised to do Statistics instead as I was only doing CSE Maths (rather than O-Level)  due to an administrative foul up at my school, that didn't include some of the material (mostly algebra and calculus I later discovered) that was assumed for Physics A-level) but the ratio you mention was about that of my O-Level Physics class.  The teacher there was pretty uninspiring, he tried but just didn't connect with his pupils.



    I'm a volunteer with Inspiring the Future (www.inspiringthefuture.org/) who aim to connect schools who want someoen to come in to talk about careers with people who will go into schools and talk about careers.  If you've been going in to schools to promote engineering you might want to give them a look. 



    I've also seen people put off engineering because they think it's a dirty job.  The image of an engineer is still that of a mechanic in greasy overalls or a construction worker in a hard hat and cement stained hi-vis trousers.  The majority of engineers I know work in offices on computers, if they wear greasy overalls it's generaly because they have a hobby of restoring vintage cars, motorbikes or steam trains and the nearest they get to cement is when they decide to relay the patio.  Being a doctor probably is a 'dirty' job, a nurse even dirtier (especially now that hospitals are cutting healthcare assistant posts).  I don't doubt that there are dirty jobs in engineering, but do doubt they're the majority (especially when you factor in IT as an engineering specialism).



    Stephen


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