The Student Room Group

do you think girls are interested in the stem subject just as much as boy

debate
I would say it is very much possible and has been the case from what I experienced when I was in college, and when I went on to do my BSc; we had quite a few females on the course!
personally i have never been interested in them
No, they would rather go into "gender studies" and complain about the "under-representation of women in STEM", rather than going into STEM themselves.
Original post by Chief Wiggum
No, they would rather go into "gender studies" and complain about the "under-representation of women in STEM", rather than going into STEM themselves.

lol
on average, no, and i think that's both fine and unsurprising since it's entirely likely that discernible difference between two groups of people leads to difference preferences
Original post by cakes are nice9
debate

No. I don't think the general population of girls are interested in STEM just as much as the general population of boys who are interested in it, but there are definitely some girls who are just as much interested in STEM as some boys are.

Also, why is this in the 'Relationship' forum if there's an exclusive forum reserved for debates? You're more likely to get better responses from there.
I’ve done a BTEC first diploma in engineering, a BTEC national diploma in electronics and computing, a BTEC higher national diploma in electronic engineering (university) and a Bsc in electronic engineering there were precisely zero women on any of those courses.
Reply 8
do you even have to ask the question when everyone knows they're not :dontknow:

it's very, very difficult to undo gender stereotypes that have existed since the beginning of time, so even if women 'can' theoretically do a job associated with men, and men 'can' theoretically do jobs associated with women, they generally do not because you're taught from a young age the gender roles in the workforce just from looking at society around you.

a Swedish study of 1,327 secondary school students looked at why more boys are attracted to Stem subjects at university and more girls are attracted to subjects in the Heed (health, elementary education and domestic) spheres.

'this difference was partially explained by “social belongingness”: teenagers felt they would fit in better in subjects that had more of their own gender. but another important factor was “self-efficacy”: the belief that one can succeed in a domain. we tend to approach domains where we feel we are competent and avoid those in which we do not. boys and girls both had high self-efficacy in the Heed subjects, but boys chose not to pursue them. the researchers suggest that this may reflect the low social value and rewards associated with careers in these spheres.

'in contrast, girls on average had much lower self-efficacy ratings in Stem, despite outperforming boys across school subjects. even in one of the most gender-neutral countries in the world and despite the evidence of their own marks, girls still seem to be succumbing to the stereotype that girls aren’t as capable in these subjects.'

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2018/mar/08/bridging-the-gender-gap-why-do-so-few-girls-study-stem-subjects

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-016-0694-y

so basically if you have no or few role models of the same gender, you're less likely to pursue that career. some people care about women in STEM (and i can see why) but idk how many generations it will take to get enough role models in, because it also takes a shift in the way men see so-called 'men's work' and so-called 'women's work' as well.
Yes but they don't get exposed to it as much as other genders and often end up deciding they don't like it because they don't give it a chance.
Like my mum wasn't allowed to do science at school and now thinks it is incredibly boring despite having wanted to be a vet and have being far more qualified than the others that were given it as an option
Original post by Joleee
do you even have to ask the question when everyone knows they're not :dontknow:

it's very, very difficult to undo gender stereotypes that have existed since the beginning of time, so even if women 'can' theoretically do a job associated with men, and men 'can' theoretically do jobs associated with women, they generally do not because you're taught from a young age the gender roles in the workforce just from looking at society around you.

a Swedish study of 1,327 secondary school students looked at why more boys are attracted to Stem subjects at university and more girls are attracted to subjects in the Heed (health, elementary education and domestic) spheres.

'this difference was partially explained by “social belongingness”: teenagers felt they would fit in better in subjects that had more of their own gender. but another important factor was “self-efficacy”: the belief that one can succeed in a domain. we tend to approach domains where we feel we are competent and avoid those in which we do not. boys and girls both had high self-efficacy in the Heed subjects, but boys chose not to pursue them. the researchers suggest that this may reflect the low social value and rewards associated with careers in these spheres.

'in contrast, girls on average had much lower self-efficacy ratings in Stem, despite outperforming boys across school subjects. even in one of the most gender-neutral countries in the world and despite the evidence of their own marks, girls still seem to be succumbing to the stereotype that girls aren’t as capable in these subjects.'

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2018/mar/08/bridging-the-gender-gap-why-do-so-few-girls-study-stem-subjects

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-016-0694-y

so basically if you have no or few role models of the same gender, you're less likely to pursue that career. some people care about women in STEM (and i can see why) but idk how many generations it will take to get enough role models in, because it also takes a shift in the way men see so-called 'men's work' and so-called 'women's work' as well.

That is a great argument and we'll put but I think we shouldn't just accept that because it's always been that way it always will.
Reply 11
Tbh idk I my school is a science specialist sixth form so they focus A LOT on science so 80% of the girls in my school year are going on to do STEM courses at university but it depends. My school has always tried to push girls into STEM with 'girls in STEM trips' but I'm sure outside my school the percentage of girls going onto STEM careers is lower.
There are some exceptions to this. At my university, about three-quarters of students studying "Biomedical Science" are female. Biological Sciences and Medicine are also majority female.
Edit: Wait, I forgot that sometimes medical sciences aren't counted as STEM.
(edited 3 years ago)

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