Socialisation, gender and achievement
Need to narrow the gender gap in STEM subjects – science, technology, science and maths
- In 2012, only 14 per cent of young women who entered university for the first time chose science-related fields of study, including engineering, manufacturing and construction.
- By contrast, 39 per cent of young men who entered university that year chose to pursue one of those fields of study
Why the gap?
- One reason for this gap is the perpetuation of gender stereotypes and attitudes
- Educational aspirations are formed at a young age and gender stereotyping frequently takes place in subtle ways at home, in schools, and in wider society.
- Another reason is, primary school teachers and secondary English and languages teachers are predominantly women,
- while secondary Maths and science teachers are predominantly men.
- A final reason is text books are often guilty of gender stereotyping – even today – of referring to nurses as a predominantly female and males as engineers
- Even when organisations, in this example the EU, try to encourage girls into STEM subjects traditional stereotypes prevail
sociologytwynham.com 
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