Analysis of recent A-level results shows that the overall increase in the number of students studying STEM subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths – is weighted disproportionately to boys.
The number of male students taking maths A-level increased by 27% between 2009 and 2014, when there was only a 17% increase for female students.
Other big differences were in further maths, where the upticks were 40% versus 21% and physics, with a 26% versus 18% increase.
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Aecom’s Richard Robinson, chief executive of civil infrastructure for Europe, the Middle East, Asia and India, commented: “While this year’s A-level results show rising numbers of students attracted to STEM subjects, there is still a significant gender gap. It appears that efforts to promote STEM careers are still largely falling on male ears.
“Technical professions, such as engineering, are keen to hire a diverse range of new entrants, both at A-level and graduate level, but there are still too few female students studying STEM subjects at school. This gender gap prevalent at A-level is then reflected in the numbers entering the technical professions, which is an issue industry is urgently trying to address.”
Julia Evans: “funding a worry”
“More needs to be done to re-frame the way STEM subjects are presented to girls from an early age in order to increase the numbers choosing to enter technical professions.”
Meanwhile, BSRIA highlighted a survey this week of the country’s 96 sixth form colleges, which found the funding constraints were leading around a quarter of them to stop offering STEM courses, and around a third of those responding feared they would not be viable in five years.
Julia Evans, chief executive of BSRIA, said: “This is a shambles and a worry for the future of science, engineering, the construction industry and the economy at large. Funding for the sciences is crucial for the qualifications and skills required for our future engineers. Government needs to think proactively and long-term about this – which doesn’t appear to be the case right now. A reduction in such funding is certainly a false economy when businesses are struggling to find the talent they need.
“Traditional A-level subjects are actually seeing an increase in the number of students registering and this includes the sciences and maths, in essence more students are turning to the STEM subjects. We appreciate that it costs more to run STEM courses due to the laboratory and experimental work involved – and there clearly is a pressure to reduce this – but such learning forms the building blocks of a career in engineering and construction. Lose this and you lose the very foundation of the discipline.”
