Colin Miller. Head of Essential Skills and Progression at West Lothian Council says: “We’re finding that girls who are good at maths and science at school tend to go into the care side of things (doctors and nurses) rather than engineering and construction”. ….This could be due to the fact that engineering and construction occupations in this day and age are seen as a male environment as sites and workshops are predominately male.
This was certainly the case when I was at Primary School and even throughout my time at Secondary school. There was a divide present amongst genders and very much so with the subjects in which we studied. After reading an article in the latest ‘Education Scotland’ it was great to see that this issue is being recognised very publicly and that there have been efforts to overcome this stereotypical feeling. West Lothian College which is near to my home town have brought in attempts to get girls more involved and interested in the ‘STEM’ subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths and show them that they have a place in this ‘masculine world’. When I was at school I absolutely loved Physical Education this was due to my passion for being active and keeping fit as well as being involved with a dance club from a very young age. However, this was dampened by the members of my class being predominantly male, I was one of three girls who carried it on until Higher level. However this did not put me off, it made me more determined to show them that there is a place for girls amongst these ‘types’ of subjects.
West Lothian Council have taken it upon themselves to recruit a number of female workers specialising in Engineering and Mathematics to come and teach workshops at the College. This attempt was to highlight to young girls that woman can succeed into such careers and make their mark just as equally as male workers. However, this attempt did not show a large shift in the number of girls entering such career paths it merely showed that it had got more girls talking about it and showing only verbal interest as opposed to fully committing and making that final leap into one of the professions. Another slightly more effective effort adopted by the college has been appointing ambassadors of the ‘STEM’ subjects. These ambassadors continuously undergo talks and lectures about how the teachings of each subject can then be applied in certain professions for example, the use of maths in daily engineering procedures. So just by putting context and relevance behind the teaching of these subjects, that the girls are showing passion for in the first place, has got them thinking of how they could succeed into a career that they once thought was not made for them. These professions suddenly now have purpose and have become very appealing. These efforts have shown great success in the number of girls enrolling in the HNC engineering course as well as open days for such ‘masculine’ subjects being populated mainly by females.
I personally think that the way the curriculum has be set there is no intention for certain areas to be directed at a specific gender. However, due to the old fashioned view which has transported into this day and age, that girls are still very much the stay at home domesticated sex and men are the ‘bread winners’ if you like. I think that this is why there is a great feeling of inequality amongst certain subjects. The effects it can have on young people growing up if they are made to feel like they aren’t intended for a certain subject could be devastating not only for their personal wellbeing but their future career as they could have an unknown niche or talent that will never be discovered.
After reading the efforts of West Lothian College I think there needs to be similar actions taken by other institutions including Primary School as this is when children are most influenced. This ensures that we are supporting every individual in whatever they wish to study or progress into.
‘Let’s get it right for every child’!
