Thread by @chrischirp

🧵I was on GMB this morning responding to Katherine Birbalsingh's comments that girls aren't choosing physics at A-Level because they don't like the hard maths and are more empathetic than boys...

I had a *lot* more to say but sadly didn't get time.

So here is a thread! 1/14

https://twitter.com/GMB/status/1519936349603778562

First - she said at the session that she'd never looked at A-level choice differences by gender *until the day before* and *had no idea*. How can she then *possibly know* why girls aren't choosing physics?

Doesn't stop her resorting to lazy gender stereotypes though. 2/14

It cannot be about the difficulty of maths when girls do equally well in maths as boys at both GCSE & A-level & more girls do maths than physics at A-Level (her school 59% maths vs 16% physics girls).

The maths in Physics A-Level *cannot* be harder than in Maths A-Level! 3/14

It's not about 'empathy' vs 'systematic' differences in girls v boys! First, gendered personality traits are controversial & poorly evidenced (as @SusanMichie & @LizStokoe will tell you). Second, it is inconsistent with many more girls choosing chemistry and maths @ A-level 4/14

So what *is* driving it? The Inst of Physics (@PhysicsNews) has done decades of detailed work on this.
e.g. iop.org/sites/default/…

One key thing is "self-concept" - girls thinking that physics is "for boys". 5/14

You can see that it's not innate by fact that girls in single sex schools or where there was a 6th form were *more* likely to choose physics & other countries have *much* higher % of girls doing physics. 6/14

Other consistent finding is that girls tend to be less confident in their own abilities than boys & less likely to choose physics even with top grades.

Do they question themselves because they feel they don't belong or the curriculum or the exam methods or all three? 7/14

Also likely that physics A-level choice in girls is related to careers - that the careers they see with physics/maths degrees are less appealing. While you do need maths to study e.g. Medicine, you don't need physics.

(from Inst of Fiscal Studies: econstor.eu/bitstream/1041…) 8/14

This matters because maths and physics education are *highly valued* in the workplace and - relevant to Katherine Birbalsingh - an important way to improve social mobility.

AND they are fantastic careers! 9/14

Physics tells us about the very stuff of existence and the laws that govern it. The atoms that are my body, my desk, my city, my planet were all once in the centre of a star billions of years ago. The physics for an apple falling also determines the movement of galaxies... 10/14

Maths is the language that physics speaks - quantum theory (physics of sub-atomic scales) is all maths & gives some of the most accurate predictions in science - but it's so strange, so marvellous that no one really understands what stuff actually *is* at that scale 11/14

The wonder of physics, the elegance and beauty of mathematics - they are all of our birthrights. Instead of dismissive statements such as "girls just don't like physics" we need to acknoweldge that we are failing them - and us. 12/14

Too many brilliant women never get to contribute to science, whether they stop at school, university, or later.

I left academia at 21 with a 1st in maths & a distinction in Quantum Theory MSc cos I felt I didn't fit - not cos I didn't love it. I came back. Most don't. 13/14

We should also care btw about boys who are likely put off English, psychology, languages at A-level, seeing them as "girls subjects".

Every time a child hears a casual phrase, or is not encouraged while the other sex is, they are pushed out. We must pull in. 14/14

quick PS: The worst gender split at A-Level here is computer science. Interestingly, in 1960s & 1970s there were many women in computer programming jobs - and % of women studying comp sci in US was increasing steadily - until 1984. ps1/2

So what happened? Home computers (PCs) came in and were marketed almost exclusively at *boys*. Over next decades became increasingly seen as a male field and % of women studying comp sci has stayed really low
this podcast is good on it! ps2/2
npr.org/sections/money…