LEARNING TO LEARN
The negative stereotyping surrounding STEM was marked . Despite writing the biography of Niels Bohr in a way that focused on his personality and character ( there were references to him being a ‘ loving ’ and ‘ nurturing ’ parent , to him being ‘ inspirational ’ and ‘ creative ’, known for his ‘ wit and warmth ’) two girls seemed to overlook all of this , having apparently read no further than the word ‘ atom .’ The fact that he was a scientist seemed to overshadow everything else : ‘ I find Person Number 3 , who invented atoms … he invented them all on his own so … I like a people person ... It ’ s just like someone who seemed like he found atoms and is not like … very exciting … lonely , quite lonely , unsociable ….’ Just for the record : there was no mention of Bohr having ‘ invented ’ the atom in the text .
When discussing the five biographies , the vast majority of the girls referred to these characters as men in the first instance , revealing their unconscious bias . A number of girls noted the obvious academic ability and intelligence of the people being described and this led them to conclude that they were male . One student commented that ‘ all the smart ones are men … that sounds an awful thing to say ’ while another declared that ‘ most boring people who invent things are men .’
Overall , the results went in favour of the adjectives : Fenyman , Anderson and Bohr were the three most likely to be invited to dinner . There were some particularly interesting comments relating to Mary Anderson , who is credited with inventing the windscreen wiper . One group chose Anderson ‘ because we understand what windscreen wipers are – the others are just a bit confusing .’ One comment was particularly noteworthy : ‘ We chose Person Number 1 because we just thought that everyone else has academic reasons why they are there but this person was really imaginative and that ’ s where they got their ideas from .’ Do such comments suggest that the academic rigor that girls associate with STEM distances them from this world ? This is particularly concerning when we remember that girls perform as well as boys in STEM subjects at GCSE level ; it is not a matter of ability , but one of confidence .
The way in which the Anderson , Fenyman and Bohr biographies were phrased clearly appealed to the girls ; they ‘ liked the story ’. Some spoke about Anderson in a way that suggested the biography had brought her to life : ‘ it would be good to meet them to tell them how successful their invention had been and to congratulate them .’
There is evidence here to suggest that exploring the stories of scientists could at least help to engage girls in STEM . Using biographies which foreground personalities and attributes , girls could be encouraged to find ‘ people like them .’
It is not a matter of ability , but one of confidence . By bringing Physics into the English classroom , I demonstrated that a cross-curricular approach could work . Alongside the work on biographies , I ran a series of lessons aimed to bring Anders Celsius to life , supporting the work of my colleagues in the Physics department . And here is the thing : I was able to do this with no detriment to the English curriculum . While challenging girls to reshape their views of physicists , I was also honing key English skills : the girls were learning to value the power of adjectives in story-telling , they were extracting relevant information , and they were using quotations to support their judgement .
The End ?
So could Physics and English bury their strife and strike up a meaningful partnership ? Some schools have already explored such things . Inspired by the Institute of Physics ’ Closing Doors report , schools have created ‘ brother ’ and ‘ sister ’ faculties ( Maths and English ; Psychology and Economics ).
Meanwhile , in an education system far , far away ( Finland , to be precise ) they have gone one further . Some schools are ‘ practically scrapping traditional subjects ’ in favour of ‘ phenomena-based learning ’. Finland is exploring a ‘ new narrative ’ for its education system with the view that ‘ life does not consist of subjects , so why should learning ?’
So perhaps we too need a new narrative in our efforts to close the gender gap in STEM . By adopting a different approach , girls could start to identify with physicists and engineers , altering their aspirations . They might start to sit upright in lessons , with confidence , ready to find people like them .
And when they are sitting comfortably , then we can really begin …
References
Willingham , D . T . ( 2009 ) Why don ’ t students like school . San Francisco : Jossey-Bass .
WISE Campaign ( 2016 ) Available at : https :// www . wisecampaign . org . uk / ( accessed 08.10.20 ).
Rosie McColl joined Berkhamsted in 2003 as an English teacher and was a Head of House and Deputy Head of Berkhamsted Girls School . She is currently Head of Brighton Girls School .
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