The Institute of Physics wants a move away from outdated views on Stem participation. We want a united effort to encourage a range of young people to take up the subject.
So the ill-informed claims made recently by Katharine Birbalsingh, the UK government’s social mobility commissioner, to a committee of MPs inquiring into diversity and inclusion in the Stem subjects generated widespread alarm among those of us who have worked in this area for many years.
The Institute of Physics (IOP) has researched and advised on gender balance in the Stem subjects for nearly two decades, and has has been far from alone. Notably, longstanding ASPIRES Research has also produced important reports and research papers.
A significant part of IOP’s work has been the Improving Gender Balance Scotland pilot project. IOP staff worked with six secondary schools and their associated primaries and the project produced resources and action guides to help schools to address the issues involved. These are available to download from Education Scotland’s website.
Equality: encouraging more girls to study Stem subjects
The success of this pilot led to its inclusion in the Scottish government’s Stem Education and Training Strategy 2017-2022, while Education Scotland’s Improving Gender Balance and Equalities team was given the task of overseeing its rollout to all Scottish schools.
It is now important that this work continues beyond the end of this current Stem strategy period - effecting deep cultural change takes considerable effort, over a much longer timescale..
It has been shown, for example, that biases begin at a very young age and need to be addressed on a whole-school community basis. There may be a gender imbalance towards boys in subjects such as physics, computer science and engineering, but that means that there is a similar imbalance towards girls in other subjects, including biology. We seek to remove outdated stereotypes so that all young people do not face unnecessary and restrictive barriers that prevent them studying any subject.
The required culture change goes beyond gender. The IOP is now working on its Limit Less campaign to remove the barriers that prevent disabled young people, those from disadvantaged backgrounds, LGBT+ young people and ethnic minorities - as well as girls - from doing physics. This requires a united effort from us all: parents, teachers, the media and our governments.
This is also very much consistent with the current focus on addressing race equality within Scottish education and the work of the likes of Rowena Arshad and Khadija Mohammed to highlight inequalities in this area and how they might be addressed.
The IOP firmly believes that all areas of society benefit from having diverse participation and that physics is for everyone, regardless of their background or gender. Although the percentage of those studying Higher physics who are female has been stuck at around 27 per cent for many years, IOP projects for improving gender balance have demonstrated this need not be the case.
We must all focus on raising awareness of unconscious biases, challenging stereotypes wherever they surface across schools. We must also make schools safe spaces to discuss these issues, and provide well-informed careers advice. And we need to ensure that there are enough subject-specialist teachers in the Stem subjects.
Many girls are already successfully studying physics, and the percentage of girls obtaining an A grade in Higher physics is significantly higher than for boys. At a time when many physics-based industries - which contribute 11 per cent of GDP and employ more than 2.7 million people in the UK - are reporting a high and growing demand for staff with physics skills, it is essential that we address outdated ideas.
All young people are encouraged to learn physics, and have the opportunity to do so - as should be the case for any subject.
Stuart Farmer is education manager for the Institute of Physics in Scotland
