Science teachers who started their training this year should receive retrospective payments to encourage them to stay in the job, Teach First has said.
The charity is calling on the government to boost the amount of money set aside for Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) teachers from 2022, so both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 cohorts can benefit from retention payments.
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Currently, all maths, physics, chemistry and languages teachers who started their training in 2020-21 are entitled to early-career payments of £2,000 each in their second, third and fourth years of teaching - with the first payment due to be made in 2022.
But Teach First says these benefits should be extended to those who started their training this academic year, and apply to teachers training through any route, to “recognise the urgency of the teaching shortage in disadvantaged schools”.
It suggests that teachers beginning their training in 2019-20 should receive a payment of £2,000 after two years, in 2021. They should then go on to receive two further payments of the same amount, in 2022 and 2023.
In a report released today, Teach First said: “To overcome the double disadvantage faced by poorer girls we need to financially incentivise more Stem teachers to work in the communities where they can make the biggest difference.
“Steps are being made through the Department for Education retention payments for teachers in certain subjects. However, the first retention payments for Stem (and languages) teachers won’t be made until 2022.
“To recognise the urgency of the teaching shortage in disadvantaged schools, we call for these payments to be made retrospectively to teachers who started their training in 2019, through any route.”
The funding call comes as Teach First launches its STEMinism campaign, calling for change to address the gender gaps found across science, technology, engineering and maths careers.
Analysis by the charity published in today’s report found that the exam boards’ GCSE subject content for biology, chemistry and physics lacked women’s names.
“This curriculum feeds into the subject content developed by the exam boards, a sample of which we also analysed,” the report said.
“Sadly, across this sample of double science specifications from the three biggest exam boards, we found over 40 mentions of male scientists - or concepts or materials named after them - compared to only two female counterparts, Rosalind Franklin and Mary Leakey.
“The absence of women from these specifications is driven by the content of the national curriculum, and the challenge of historical underrepresentation of women at the forefront of science.”
Shelley Gonsalves, executive director at Teach First, said: “While being stuck on the question of how to get more girls to pursue science technology, engineering and maths, we’ve overlooked that there are too few women celebrated in these subjects at school for girls to see.
“This matters, because if girls don’t see identifiable role models it’s hard to spark their imaginations to pursue Stem careers in future. This leaves talent unlocked, which exacerbates our country’s Stem skills shortage.
“Great teachers have an incredible role to play here, especially when given the right support and tools to make sure that there is greater representation of girls and women.
“We especially need to overcome the double disadvantage faced by poorer girls, by incentivising more talented people to become teachers and help their pupils thrive where the need is greatest.”
