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Saturday, August 19, 2017

Very few girls took computing A-level.

By Jane Wakefield, Technology reporter for BBC News

17 August 2017

A worrying statistic for the tech industry was revealed in freshly-released A-level data - only 9.8% of those completing a computing course were girls. It comes amid a storm in Silicon Valley over the number of women employed in the tech industry. Experts agree that the world faces a digital skills shortage and that a more even gender balance is crucial. One industry body worried that too few boys were also choosing the subject.

"Today's announcement that nearly 7,600 students in England took A-level computing means it's not going to be party time in the IT world for a long time to come," said Bill Mitchell, director of education at the IT Chartered Institute, BCS. He said that it fell well short of the 40,000 level that "we should be seeing". But he added that the fact so few girls were taking the subject was particularly worrying. "At less than 10%, the numbers of girls taking computing A-level are seriously low. We know that this a problem starting at primary school and it's something that we need to address at all levels throughout education. As a society, we need to make sure that our young women are leaving education with the digital skills they need to secure a worthwhile job, an apprenticeship or go on to further study." The figures, from the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), are not all bad news. They reveal that there has been a 34% rise in the number of female students sitting the computer science exam, up to 816 from 609 in 2016.

Google engineer James Damore caused controversy this month when he penned a memo suggesting that there were fewer women at Google because of biological differences. The search giant sacked him over the remarks, saying they were "offensive". A recent survey of 1,000 university students conducted by audit firm KPMG suggested that only 37% of young women were confident they had the tech skills needed by today's employers. A total of 73% said that they had not considered a graduate job in technology. Aidan Brennan, KPMG's head of digital transformation, said: "The issue here isn't around competency - far from it - but rather how businesses understand the underlying capability of an individual and how to unlock it. I think this research highlights the work that needs to be done to show the next generation that when it comes to a career in tech, gender isn't part of the equation. Competition for jobs is tough and we know that female job seekers can be less likely to apply for a role than their male counterparts if they don't feel they already possess every prerequisite the job demands."

Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, who founded the charity Stemettes to persuade more girls to pursue careers in Science, Technology Engineering and Maths has her own view about the low number of girls taking A-level computing. "Girls often don't want to be the only one in the class so they tend not to pick the subject when it is an option," she said. "Also, it's often not even an option in a lot of schools so it's an uphill battle but fortunately, a lot of computer science courses take A-level maths students, so there is a very viable route for girls into the course itself and related courses."

[Considering how IT heavy the world is increasingly becoming and how the young seem to swim so easily in those waters you would think that more of them would be interested in pursuing it as a potential career. Plus there’s plenty of money to be made in the High Tech clouds so why the reluctance to get involved? A perception that it’s a difficult subject area? An assumption that tech is getting easier to use every year so why bother to learn anything that will be obsolete by the time they graduate? But it would seem that, at least for the foreseeable future, those with IT skills will live in a sellers market.]

4 comments:

Mudpuddle said...

possibly seeing the reverse of evolutional tech here? will humans quit using technology and leave it up to other machines? i see a population of cavemen inhabiting a world run by computers?
is this all a bit too sci fi?

Brian Joseph said...

This is avert interesting post. Of course it is timely in light off the Google memo.

I tend to think that the lower percentage of women in tech fields is not based on biological differences in large populations. I think that there are cultural reasons for it. In my opinion discrimination, at many levels splays a part. This can be true even if discrimination at the point of hire is eliminated. I think that the cultural bias starts much earlier.

I am not a believer that there are no biological based differences in large populations of men and women. I think that there is good evidence that the differences in the level of violence, as well as reproductive strategies, among large groups of women and men, is partially biological.

CyberKitten said...

@ Mudpuddle: It wouldn't surprise me too much. Humans as pets, as pests or as an irrelevance? It's a science-fiction world now, it'll be even plainer in years to come. I think a Time-Traveler from the 19th century would die from shock from the things we take as normal!

@ Brian: Oh, its definitely a cultural thing. Apart from the obvious (and the natural consequences thereof) I don't think there are many important differences between males/females.

VV said...

I'm on a list that educates, trains, and recruits girls and women for coding jobs. I joined in hopes I would find the time to learn more coding than the basics that I already know. I haven't. 🙁 The university where I teach runs programs for girls in our public schools to encourage their interest in coding. The effort is there. Girls seem to enjoy learning it. Maybe one or some of these types of programs will help turn the tide.