Girls’ continued reduced interest in STEM a ‘serious wake-up call’

An EngineeringUK survey has found a stark gender gap in young people’s interest in engineering and science, and a sharp decline in practical work during STEM lessons.

It’s no surprise that there is a gender gap between the interest girls and boys have in science and engineering at school. For a number of years we’ve been made aware of this gap. But what is news is that, despite the increase in awareness campaigns and various STEM initiatives, this gap is still as stark as ever. 

A new survey by the Royal Society in partnership with EngineeringUK includes various stats that not only reveal the differences in attitude to science and engineering between girls and boys, but also the sharp decline in practical science at school, which could help engage less interested students in the subject. 

In the third Science education tracker (previously run in 2016 and 2019), 7,000 young people between years 7 and 13 (aged 11 to 18) were surveyed. Some of the stand-out stats include: 

• Interest in a STEM career drops as students progress through school – 55% of year 7 students compared to 39% of students in year 13. 
• The reason why this interest drops is due to a lack of enjoyment in the subjects (57% girls v 41% boys) and that they don’t feel they are good at them (38% girls v 20% boys).
• Only 12% of girls say being an engineer fits well with who they are compared to 38% of boys. 
• Just 16% of girls think a career in engineering is suitable for someone like them, compared to 44% of boys.

Interest in science as a subject is also in decline, with 36% of girls saying science is not for them.

However, the tracker found that a key motivator in increasing interest in STEM subjects, particularly for girls, is hands-on practical work. Over 70% of students say they want to do more practical work; however, only 26% of GCSE students do practical work at least once a fortnight in school. 

Exposure to engineering – either through extracurricular activities, a school visit or a talk by someone in STEM – seems to dramatically boost the students’ interest in the subject. For instance, 45% of students who had a talk at school from someone working in STEM said it inspired them to continue with STEM subjects.

STEM-related work experience is also very low. Around 15% of young students had completed STEM-related work experience, with a further 26% keen to do so but unable to secure a placement.

While a change to the curriculum brought about by government could present a solution to the lack of hands-on, practical work, any curriculum change would not happen immediately. As such, perhaps the onus should also be on the engineering community to take some responsibility and help expose students to STEM.

This is a sentiment shared by Dr Hilary Leevers, chief executive of EngineeringUK. She said: “The engineering community needs to step up and help young people see the range of opportunities for them in engineering and technology. 

“We can inspire them and encourage them to continue with STEM. Where possible we should also be helping to offset the decline in practical lessons by offering hands-on activities.”

The results of the tracker make worrying reading given current and projected future workforce shortages across engineering and technology. Indeed, this skills gap is a topic E+T has covered numerous times. 

The issue, of course, is that this skills shortage could lead to the UK failing to tackle thorny challenges – from energy security to achieving net zero targets and sustainable industry.

Leevers concluded: “The findings of the tracker are a serious wake-up call. We need hundreds of thousands more people entering STEM careers to get on track to meet net zero and improve sustainability, and for the UK to prosper.”