A levels go gender neutral

[BiologyIsReal]

Daily Telegraph today. Can't see a thread on it but apologies if it has already been posted.

When will this utter tripe stop? It's as if organisations are all subject to a collective delusion.

/www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/08/14/a-levels-go-gender-neutral-leadingexam-board-allows-students/

Presumable computing still has a large coursework element? And I'm guessing it's still got one of the most skewed sex ratios of candidates?

Ditto some of the technology subjects.

I haven't taught Computing A level for some years now but a quick check shows there is still a substantial project worth 20% of marks. Link to OCR spec:
www.ocr.org.uk/Images/70162-specification.pdf
Yes it is very heavily skewed towards boys (I never ever managed to recruit a girl - they chose ICT instead). It also does not award a high percentage of top grades. I think this is because a) it often attracts boys who like computers, but are less able (and are often shocked at its difficulty) and b) the genuinely more able are likely to choose Maths and Sciences, knowing well that they can apply for Comp Sci courses at University without Computing A level. Having said that, I have had students who have done extremely well and told me it was a very useful A level to have - interestingly, those who went on to do Maths or a science subject, rather than those few who did Comp Sci.
Some of my ICT girls produced projects that would have merited a good grade on the Computing spec - you could shoehorn in quite a lot of extra techy stuff if so inclined.
Now I will shut up.

Girls getting a somewhat higher percentage of high grades in physics may also be because it's a subject which is necessary for many stereotypically male degrees/jobs so is likely to have more middling boys - girls are less likely to take it unless they're really good.

My DD did computing to AS (in a girls school) but most of them dropped it at that stage to concentrate on high grades in their other subjects. She did it at o-level too - there were 2 sets for it, such was the demand! The girls school paradox again.

"Are you sure it isn't because girls are obedient little automatons with no creativity?"

lol

"Yes... there's much more scope for creativity and initiative in coursework than exams, surely? "

Agree!

“girls are less likely to take [physics] unless they're really good”

Almost certainly something like this. Can’t remember where I read it recently, will have to check my Goodreads ... but girls tend to have more choice of A levels because they have better, broader GCSEs. The research in question had looked at why students with good GCSE maths did, or did not, go on to do it at A level. There were NO boys in the population studied who had a top maths GCSE result who had not gone on to do it at A level. There were plenty of girls - but they also had good results in other subjects, and/or preferred other subjects. So you would expect with maths, and I would expect the same to be true of physics, that girls taking it would generally be VERY good and/or really passionate about the subject.