WISE News | WISE CEO - Helen Wollaston | September 2017 Blog

​As we enter a new academic year, it is timely to look at the pipeline of girls choosing the core STEM subjects needed for roles in engineering and technology.

7 September 2017

Exam results published in August show a welcome increase in take-up of computing and physics A level by girls, but they still represent just 10% and 22% of the total respectively.

See the results and more WISE stats

Those that do choose core STEM subjects outperform boys – the challenge is to break through the perception that these are boys subjects. These perceptions are deeply ingrained in our culture and start early, as shown in the recent BBC programme - No More Boys and Girls: Can Our Kids Go Gender Free?, adding fresh evidence to support the case our People Like Me campaign. If we persuaded half of the girls who achieved grade A or above in GCSE physics this year to pursue the subject at A level, it would double the number.

The 2017 WISE CSO Fellows and WISE Awards finalists just published have been selected because they show the awesome things you can do if you have STEM qualifications. Take some to time to read and share their stories to inspire girls, parents and teachers.

We can and we will break through outdated stereotypes to prove, as our new Board member Rikke Rosenlund says, that science isn’t for girls and isn’t for boys – Science is for everyone!

Other WISE News items

• Learn to teach girls STEM is for them
• Yorkshire STEM champion network
• Put your company at the forefront of gender balance in STEM