Girls closing achievement gap in maths and physics
Girls are catching up with boys and scoring top grades in GCSE maths and physics.
Girls are achieving increasing numbers of grade 7 or above in the two subjects, in which their male classmates have traditionally scored better.
The number of boys achieving top grades in maths dropped slightly this year, with 16.7% of male entries being awarded a grade 7 or higher, compared to 16.8% last year.
At the same time, the number of girls getting top maths marks rose, with 15.5% of female maths entries receiving a grade 7 or higher, compared to 14.9% in 2018.
There were similar trends in physics, as 42% of female entrants got a grade 7 or higher, up from 39.9% last year, as the number of male entries getting top grades in the subject climbed to 45.9%, from 45.5% in 2018.
Read on...
The figures come in the same year that female entries for GCSE computer science climbed by 14%.
Girls also continue to outnumber boys at the highest levels of achievement, as two-thirds of the students awarded straight 9 grades were female.
In total, 837 students who took seven or more GCSEs got grade 9s in all of their subjects, of these students, 556 were girls, and 281 were boys.
One scientist determined to get more girls interested in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects was pleased to hear of girls’ achievements.
Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, CEO of Stemmettes said: “This is welcome news and confirms what we already knew – science and maths are for everyone, of all genders.
“We can’t wait to see what this generation achieves in terms of innovation and solving the world’s problems with their knowledge, without the weight of outdated stereotypes and sexist biases.”
Geoff Barton, general secretary at the Association of School and College leaders, believes a change in attitude towards girls in Stem is evident at GCSE and A-level.
He told the PA news agency: “It mirrors what we were seeing last week when we saw more girls doing sciences than boys at A-level.
“The encouraging part of that is that females are thinking ‘this is as much a part of my world as it is my brother’s’, so I think that’s a really good thing.”
We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support
The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.
The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.
So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.
-
Show Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to leave a comment.Join the conversationPlease read our comment moderation policy here.
“Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon, CEO of Stemmettes said: “This is welcome news and confirms what we already knew – science and maths are for everyone, of all genders.”
How many ‘genders’ were there at the last count?
What is the point of this article? When STEMM (including Maths and Medicine) figures are calculated, women outnumber men. Women make up a whopping 75%(!) of veterinary science undergraduates. Your own figures show the huge #GenderArtGap favouring women. Are you going to run similar articles showing happy young men weeping together in their ballet shoes? “UCAS showed last month [January, 2016] that UK women are 35% more likely to go university than men.” This trend is only accelerating. I love The Canary, but this is poor, pointless journalism.