Why are we making it difficult for girls to take up computer science careers?
My daughter has just started Year 9 at secondary school in the UK. At the tail end of Year 8, she had to choose the subjects she would take for her GCSE. She struggled with three key choices and finally settled on Spanish, Drama and Computer Science.
As someone who has programmed since the age of 7, I was delighted that she chose a subject that will give her a lot of enjoyment, and make sure she has the maximum opportunity for her future career.
When she chose computer science as her subject, her biggest reservation was that there would be none of her friends doing it. This is big for her as she struggles in classes where she does not have her friends as a support network. Despite this she went ahead with her choice and I was a very proud father. As it turns out, one of her friends also decided to do it, and out of a class of 30, 3 of them are girls. A woeful statistic, and something that we as a society have a lot more to do to improve.
So one would think that the school recognise that there is a major battle to get girls into STEM subjects, and that we as a society should do everything we can do to encourage and support girls in choosing STEM subjects.
So to my surprise, the computer science teacher (a woman) creates a seating plan for all the children in the class. She seats each girl next to a boy, and 24 other boys get to sit with their friends! Why?!?!
This may seem like a petty issue, but what is the message that it is sending to 13 year old girls? If you take up computer science, you will be sat next to a boy. Not really an incentive for girls to take the subject as a choice.
What would have worked better? Sit the three girls together so that they can work together, and at least not have the anxiety of sitting next to a stinky boy!
What other little hurdles are we as a society putting in place that subtly disencourage girls to take up what are traditionally seen as male careers?
There is a lot that the school is doing great at, for example having a female computer science teacher sets a positive role model. There is a lot of research on how teacher selection and actions, such as seating arrangements, can influence girls’ perceptions of male-dominated subjects.
How might we make it easier for girls to take up STEM subjects?
References:
Francis, B. et al. (2017). “Exploring the impact of teacher gender on students’ educational performance and engagement”. British Journal of Sociology of Education.
Archer, L. et al. (2013). “Aspires: Young people’s science and career aspirations, age 10–14”. King’s College London. Available at: aspire-project.
WISE Campaign (2022). Women in STEM workforce 2022 statistics. Available at: wise.org.uk.
