1/2 of all state schools have no girls sitting physics A level

Hi
I'm another career physicist (just) having got into my job by a convoluted job starting with Astronomy, solid state and finally crystalography, powder metallurgy and microscopy!
I have fond memories of Physics A level but was aware of the gender disparity with 14 boys and 3 girls at the start. However, all three girls got A level as only 9 in total got that far.

I think 16 is a very sensitive age for most teens and I remember the simmering resentment of my then-boyfriend as I got better marks than him in general.I got through this by having the skin of a rhinoceros and dumping him within 2 months of 6th form. However, many girls may not have the confidence to resist this form of peer disapproval if to be labelled 'clever' and 'geek' is to present you as a threat.
I made it damn clear to any other prospective boyfriend that for 6th form they would be second to physics and exams - which meant I was single and free from distraction ready for University!

Waves at CMOTDibbler

I spend too much time on here as it is! I mght dip in and out of a science club, would certainly be useful for picking other's brains. I have to admit although I still work in science it doesn't grip me like it once did, I have a lot of other interests now and rarely watch science programmes or read much outside my specialist area, i'm studying social sciences now. I'd browse but probably not be a regular contributor. However I do think that for the reason this thread was started, ie lack of women studying a science, it woukd be a great idea for a topic, might get non scientists more interested and enable them to encourage their DDs.

MOH100 and Moonbells - I'm a medical physicist too ! Wow - three of us on MN

I dunno, History Club seems to be going really well and I'm jealous!

Long running threads on major areas eg genetics, evolution, Astronomy. Discussions about teaching methods. Book recommendations. Scientific howlers in scifi tv/novels. Reviews of Tv science programmes.

Maybe Brian Cox discussions on Friday nights (though personally I prefer Marcus du Sautoy)

What sort of things would you envisage seeing in the Science Club? MN needs you to occupy an unused thread good reasons to create a new topic.

Does anyone think a Science Club MN topic is a good idea or were you all ignoring that and hOping it would go away (also open to "no, terrible plan!" responses)

Does anyone think a Science Club MN topic is a good idea or were you all ignoring that and h

I couldn't wait to drop Physics at the end of third year..... far too hard and complicated and incomprehsible (or maybe badly taught....)

I did however do Maths A level in 1979 and loved the applied Maths which I gather is a bit physicsy. Brilliant teachers helped!

www.royalsoced.org.uk/events/event.php?id=291

Dame jocelyn bell Burnell has done a report on STEM skills and women in Scotland, I heard her speak about it recently, will try to dig out the report, it had good evidence on physics and other subjects and made recommendations.

Agree with those saying it only gets worse at Uni.
And then, try getting into a work environment, where they don't actually have changing rooms for you, so you end up changing into plant gear in the loos....
But, I'm doing a job I love, so it's all worth it and I was pants at arts and humanities, so science was the way to go

lovepigeon sorry you felt alone at Imperial. I did Maths there in the late 90s - it was a similar situation. I did emerge the other end though :)

I did physics, maths, further maths and chemistry A level at an all girls grammar in 2004/5. There were loads of us in chemistry about 15 in maths but only about 5 doing physics (dropping to 3 after AS) and I was the only one to do further maths (year group about 120). This meant I got quite lonely in U6th.
Being in an all girls definitely made science much more enjoyable for me as I could ask and answer questions confidently.

By the time I did my A levels they had amended the physics content so that you did not need maths A level which was a major mistake in my opinion. It meant there was no calculus content and the whole subject really dumbed down and boring and far too easy.

I started a Theoretical Physics degree at Imperial but ended up leaving at the end of the first year as was really unhappy and think being in such a minority contributed to my decision. For example I was the only girl in my seminar group with about 20 boys and as I was very low confidence found it really hard to join in (obviously this will not apply to all girls I was just particularly self consious).

Did a maths degree instead which I absolutely loved and did lots of the applies physicsy module options in my final year. The fact that maths is 50/50 at degree level helped but also I just love properly proving things whereas in physics often felt like we were just rearranging equations. The poster who mentioned research saying you need 30% min women I think this is interesting as it definitely holds true with my experiences. Now work in programming/stats and my dept is 30% female. Really miss doing "proper" maths though.

I took maths, physics and chemistry A levels. One of 3-4 girls in the physics class, slightly more in maths and chem. Frankly, I chose them because I was good at maths, and an all rounder in everything else, wanted to be an architect then so figured if I chose 'tough' subjects, I could go back and do something 'softer' later. And because it was a matter of principle NOT to do something 'girly' for me back then

Stupid decision. Despite being interested in science, and pretty numerate, my posturing was pointless. If I'd have taken Art, English and Politics (as I should have done) I'd have a much smaller chip on my shoulder now about my disastrous A levels.

Anyhow. It is still bloody shocking and crap for girls now. I think science and maths should be taught single sex in all schools, meself, and be compulsory up to 16 (or at least two out of three sciences).

waves back at moonbells. The 'feminine' and 'masculine' subjects thing really gets my goat, it's purely culturally determined. I have an Iranian friend who is an engineer, as are her other 3 sisters, their dad is a physicist. On her degree course in Iran, it was 50/50 men and women. It's because they're taught separately so there's no notion of boys doing physics and girls not, otherwise they wouldn't have anyone doing physics in the girls schools. And that's Iran where they force women to wear headscarves and stone them to death for adultery. For the love of god, people, we are doing worse than Iran in sex equality in sciences degrees!!!

mathanxiety its true. the problem is the narrowness of options post 16.

I did english lit, biology and chemistry with physics as. Though i would have liked to have done, english lit, bio, chem, physics, maths and art. But it just wasn't going to happen!

Plus, careers advice wasn't great. I was a clever student and all the teachers said I should do their subject at a-level (not trying show off, tis true) and so when the maths and physics tutors said that their subject was valuable, I thought "that's what my history teacher said".

I did a physics a level, I was the only girl in the class and when we were picking our subjects for a level lots of girls were interested until we were told our physics teacher was sexist and wouldnt like girls in his class. He did try and get me to drop it but I persisted and I'm glad I did. The trouble was he wouldnt help me at all, I ended up getting a C in it and not really understanding much until I got to uni and had a fantastic physics tutor. Now I am only 28 and this teacher is still teaching and probably still has the same attitude so it only takes a few dinasours like this to lower the number of girls taking physics. Although I can't say I minded too much, there were probably about 15 lads in the class and most of them were in the schools rugby team...

Interesting point about introducing physics early on - I now wonder if this is why I got into it as we did some basic stuff at primary school with a marvellous teacher called Mr Inkpen. Though the main thing I remember from that time is the boys using ring-shaped magnets to pick up iron filings & saying they looked like fanjos...

I don't know how you would even study biology properly without maths, let alone physics.

BTW - even though I got an A grade for my Physics Higher, I absolutely hated it. Realised later, when I studied maths for a year at Uni that it was because I couldn't do hated Applied Maths, although I was good at Pure Maths.

Either I went to an exceptional school don't think so - or maybe just the broader nature of Scottish education encourages it, but it never occured to me not to do Physics. This was over 30 years ago.

Iirc, I was swithering between Physics and History or Geography for (Scottish) Highers and I was encouraged by my careers advisor to Physics, so as to to keep my options open. Ended up doing Maths, Physics, Chemistry, English, French, Latin, ie half "Arts" and half "Sciences".

At a co-ed, comprehensive (state) school but all my female friends did the same subjects. Don't remember any discrimination in class.

Went to Uni after 5th year (equivalent of Lower 6th) to study French and Russian (ended up doing French and Economics), so don't know what it was like in 6th year. Many of my friends (most of whom did stay on for 6th Year) went on to do medicine - suspect my careers advisor thought I might want to too (high achieving school) but I never did (even though my dad was a doctor).