Stark gender gap in Stem subjects set to worsen, advocate warns
New figures published by the department of education also show little over 43% of female Leaving Cert students studied another Stem subject outside of biology. This compares to 70.3% when it comes to Leaving Cert boys. File picture: PA
A stark gender gap in the Stem field will continue, or even worsen in a rapidly changing world, unless there is more access to subjects such as construction studies and engineering in schools.
That is the warning from Sharon Lombard of I Wish, an initiative working to encourage girls to pursue careers across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
The reported this week that boys are still more likely than girls to be studying physics, chemistry, engineering, and other Stem subjects at Leaving Cert level.
New figures published by the department of education also show little over 43% of female Leaving Cert students studied another Stem subject outside of biology. This compares to 70.3% when it comes to Leaving Cert boys.
This figure drops even further when it comes to the numbers studying two or more Stem subjects. Little over 10% of girls were studying two or more Stem subjects excluding biology, compared to almost 38% of boys.
There are “multiple factors” contributing to this gender gap, Ms Lombard said. “I think the biggest one is the lack of visible role models in these areas. There is unconscious bias, and then there is kind of stereotypes as well.”
Access to subjects outside of biology, physics, and chemistry, is also an issue. Stem subjects also include agricultural science, construction studies, engineering, design and communication graphics (previously known as technical drawing), and applied maths.
Ms Lombard said: “In the school system, what we can see is that there are barriers for girls getting access to subjects.” This could be down to resources, such as a school loosing a teacher.
“For example, construction studies wouldn’t be offered typically in all-girls schools.”
“What we're seeing then in the mixed-sex school environment is that where they have the opportunity to choose the subject, [girls] are not choosing it because they feel they don’t fit in.”
Research undertaken by I Wish previously found that 96% of boys have access to Stem subjects other than maths and science, as opposed to 66% of girls. “Its pretty depressing to think that we’re still at that stage,” Ms Lombard said.
“We need to urgently address the equality of access to Stem subjects in schools or else the systemic bias will just continue and exasperate.”
"We have a rapidly changing world, and its on all of us in all our interactions with young women to showcase the possibilities with STEM and empower girls to play their part in it."
A spokesperson for the department of education said this issue is not unique to Ireland, reflecting “wider international trends”.
The department remains committed to addressing these issues and the Stem education implementation plan includes targeted measures to address gender imbalance, the spokesperson added.
It is also working with BioPharmaChem Ireland, the department of enterprise, Trade and employment, and Stem Southwest on a schools Stem industry engagement survey. The results, along with recommendations, will be published later this year.
The figures published by the department of education also show more than 75% of sixth-year girls studied at least one foreign language, compared to 55% of boys.
The percentage of students taking a foreign language other than French in the Leaving Certificate has also decreased.
The spokesperson said the department is aware of the decrease "which may be related to developments such as the introduction of additional subjects that students can choose to sit and how requirements for entry to third level have evolved in recent times."
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