Girls are far more likely to engage in scientific research than boys at secondary school, though this is not reflected in their career choice, figures on young scientist entries indicate.
As the Esat Telecom Young Scientist & Technology exhibition opens today at the RDS in Dublin with students setting up their projects, entries since the competition started in 1965 show very strong participation by girls. At third level, however, the number of women studying science is halved.
Marked gender differences in the pursuit of individual science subjects is a complicating factor for Department of Education efforts to stem a decline in students taking science subjects in the Leaving Certificate. The Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland, yesterday said there was a need to invest heavily in providing laboratory facilities in schools, particularly all-girls schools.
Since 1965, 14,892 girls as opposed to 9,276 boys have participated, though 53 per cent of prize-winners are boys.
Research by boys in physics, chemistry and mathematics continues to predominate and girls lead by about the same margin in social/behavioural science and biology/ecology. Among this year's entries in chemical, physical and mathematical sciences, 64 per cent were male. In both other categories, female domination is in excess of two-toone. In social and behavioural sciences, 74 per cent were female, and in biological and ecological sciences, 68 per cent were female.
The exhibition has bucked the trend of falling numbers taking Leaving Certificate science subjects by attracting the biggest number of entries ever, with 470 projects and more than 1,000 student participants. This hides the inability of many girls' schools to provide the full range of vocational and technical subjects, which is depriving girls of the chance to pursue what have traditionally been seen as boys' subjects, according to the ASTI. Its survey of 110 girls-only schools last year found 76 had difficulty in providing the full science subject range.
Why girls have such high participation at second level and decline at third level, and have stronger preferences for biological subjects, is affected by how subjects are presented, said Ms Helen Hughes, chairwoman of Women in Technology and Science - a voluntary organisation to promote participation of women in science, technology and engineering.
Biology is presented in a much more attractive way to women, she added. "The physical sciences seem dead and boring for a lot of women. They see no connection with their lives. There is a problem with the way it is taught but we know efforts are being made to address this."
The scientist in a white coat had a poor "nerd-like" image among women, who themselves had a lack of awareness that "these subjects can lead to exciting careers, much more than they had ever thought possible". The problem was compounded by lack of role models, whereas boys readily have them, such as their fathers.
Gender-proofing curriculums to counteract the lack of female participation was successful, particularly at third level in Scandinavia. This, for example, meant educators had to undergo training in making technology more amenable to women.
The ASTI president, Mr Michael Corley, stressed the importance of "experience in doing practical work in the sciences". This necessitated much greater investment in laboratory facilities which would directly translate into project work. With such large gaps in facilities among schools catering for both sexes, he questioned the extent to which private funds had to be used to bring projects up to adequate standard for participation in the event.
Investment, he added, had to be across the board. Traditionally, most concern focused on the need for chemistry and physics laboratories but there was a strong need "in the biological area" too, especially with the extent of job opportunities in this area.
