STEM TEACHING
far better in STEM subjects than girls – particularly in year 9, where the gap in maths between boys and girls was wider than in any other country taking part in the research. Unsurprisingly, there have been calls to investigate what’s going on and whether what we’re seeing is a one-off or an early warning sign – the canary in the calculus – that something fundamental is happening to girls’ enthusiasm for STEM subjects. Critical thinking For head of maths Will Taylor and deputy head of maths Vesna Kadelburg at The Perse School, the clear message is: ‘don’t panic’. Dramatic as the figures sound, they may not signal a long-term trend. “The gap is bigger than in 2019, but it’s only one data point after a long history of broadly equal performance for boys and girls,” they note. As they stress, these are pupils whose education was significantly disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which included missing out on the national SATs usually taken in year 6. So, are we looking at the situation in the wrong way? “The change might be an indicator of schools doing a great job. For 16 years, the gap was not significant. Then, when we measure those pupils who were in late primary school or early secondary school during Covid-19 school closures, we see a big gap. Could this be evidence that schools really are helping close this gap?” suggest the STEM experts at The Perse. “It’s also worth noting that the study doesn’t show a difference in ability, but a difference in performance on that test. Our feeling is that there is no inherent difference in the ability of boys and girls. I guess that’s why we might worry about differences in performance.” Confidence counts There are other factors at play. One of the points highlighted by the report is that boys tended to be more confident about their maths skills than girls. Helping girls to develop similar levels of confidence could be an essential part of the solution, say various schools. This can be challenging because it means learning to live with and even embrace getting some things wrong. For Faye Shane, head of senior school at Stoke College and a maths teacher with more than 25 years in the profession, shedding that fear of failure is crucial. “With maths, you must make mistakes and learn from them,” she says. But getting the wrong answer – particularly in class – can feel daunting. “I think [girls] feel that peer pressure a bit more,” she adds. “Risk-taking can be something girls find less attractive because they work more collaboratively and may fear judgement
hile some A-level subjects – maths, physics and computing among them – are still dominated by boys, girls’ participation in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is soaring. Take chemistry and biology A-levels, where the proportion of entries from girls outnumbers those from boys. And when students move on from school, the trend continues: the 2023/24 UK medical student intake was 60% female, for instance. So, the recent unveiling of the latest TIMSS results came as a shock to many STEM leaders. TIMSS – which stands for Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study – has been going since 1995 and observes how children from 66 participating countries, including England, perform in maths and science for years 5 and 9, as well as comparing what’s taught and how. The initial results from the latest survey, carried out in 2023, were published towards the end of last year and made for reassuring reading, showing that pupils in England were performing well above average in maths and science. It was the second batch of data, released in March, that caused ripples in the educational world and beyond. Its findings showed boys in England doing
TRY, TRY AGAIN At St Mary’s School (above and right), STEM success starts with understanding how girls think – then designing lessons to match
64 MAY 2025 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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