21 May 2022 | New Scientist | 27Views
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ROM Katherine Johnson,
known for her pioneering
work at NASA, to Nobel
prizewinning physicist Jocelyn
Bell Burnell and epidemiologist
Sunetra Gupta, women have
contributed hugely to science,
technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM). But that
contribution often remains
undervalued, and in the UK a false
narrative persists that science is
a boys’ subject and that girls lack
the aptitude for study or work in
STEM disciplines.
These long-standing negative
assumptions were displayed
recently at an inquiry on diversity
in STEM by the UK parliament’s
Science and Technology
Committee. Katharine Birbalsingh,
head of Michaela Community
School in London and chair of the
Social Mobility Commission, said
that girls in her school have a
“natural” aversion to physics and
that it involves “hard maths”,
which girls would “rather not do”.
Contrary to Birbalsingh’s
comments, evidence shows
that girls are just as capable as
boys: girls outperform their
male peers in GCSE maths and
science qualifications, taken from
age 14, with 68 per cent getting
grades A*-C in 2015 versus 65 per
cent for boys.
Yet despite this, only around 23
per cent of entrants for the A level
qualification in physics, taken
from age 16, are girls. There are
clearly underlying reasons behind
these statistics, but Birbalsingh’s
comments highlight exactly the
Comment
kind of harmful stereotypes that
have led many young women to
disengage from these subjects.
Research has found that, despite
being very capable, many girls
lack proportionate confidence in
their maths and physics abilities
because they feel they aren’t
“naturally” clever enough.
This is partly due to a notion
within popular culture of the
“effortlessly clever physicist”
(whereby physics is presented as
something that comes naturally,
rather than something to work at),
as well as the view that physics is
“masculine and hard”: the very
same troubling narrative thatBirbalsingh was espousing.
It is also much harder for girls
to aspire to STEM careers if there
are no female role models for
them to look up to in their studies.
Representation of inspiring
female scientists could be a crucial
part of raising aspirations and
dismantling harmful stereotypes.
However, in an analysis of double
science GCSE specifications from
major exam boards, only Rosalind
Franklin and Mary Leakey are
mentioned. By contrast, 40 male
scientists’ names can be found.
It is clear that the design of
exam specifications, ingrained
societal attitudes and potentialgatekeeping practices in some
of the UK’s schools need to be
re- evaluated and addressed.
As research from Julie Moote
at University College London has
highlighted, greater support for
teachers is needed so that they can
better understand the complex and
invisible ways in which gender,
class and racial inequalities are
reinforced through teaching.
Some studies also suggest
that girls place a greater value on
seeing the social relevance of the
work they do, and engage better
with a project-based approach
to STEM. I can identify with this.
Despite my A grades, I dropped
physics and maths after GCSE. I
later went on to be part of a team
doing a physics-based project,
where I had the opportunity
to work on a real-life physics
challenge. This sparked a new-
found love of the subject, sadly
too late to study it further.
If ingrained attitudes about
science and misplaced cultural
gender stereotypes lead to systemic
barriers that dissuade girls from
engaging, then, as a community,
we need to examine our own
attitudes and failings. It is time to
call out opinions like Birbalsingh’s,
and create a learning environment
that actively breaks down
stereotypes, in order to support
girls and other under-represented
groups to thrive in STEM subjects. ❚Stemming the gap
Girls are just as capable as boys in science and mathematics, but
ingrained attitudes stop them from engaging, says Maria Rossini
Maria Rossini is head of
education at the British
Science Association.
@MariaTKRossiniSIMONE^ ROTELLA