Gender and physics (Updated)

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What did boys and girls like and dislike about the content of physics courses?

To gauge the interest of girls and boys in various physics topics, all pupils were asked to indicate all the topics they found interesting from a given list. Several marked gender differences in pupils' interest towards specific physics topics were found by the researchers:

at primary level, girls showed more interest in 'how musical instruments work' and 'why we usually have a rainbow after rain' , whilst boys were more interested in the 'way electrical equipment works';
at lower secondary level, girls showed more interest in 'how to solve the world food problem', whilst boys were more interested in 'how to construct a simple device to measure the level of radiation', 'how to increase the power of the car engine', 'how to understand the way electrical equipment works' and 'how I can earn money by applying my knowledge'; and
more girls than boys on the Standard Grade course showed interest in 'why use of X-rays can be harmful for the human body' and 'why we have earthquakes'.

The researchers commented that the end of lower secondary school is a critical time for choosing subjects. This makes the balance of topics an important feature of science education in these years.

Students' preferences towards physics activities, such as making equipment and problem solving, were also explored. In the younger classes, girls were generally much less positive about all physics activities than boys. However, in the older classes, girls showed similar interests to the boys for all the activities except they were significantly less interested than boys in doing practical work.

The researchers suggested that students' interest in physics revived in the Standard Grade course because the content was based on an applications led approach which engaged their interest. When students entered the Higher Grade course this enthusiasm diminished, they suggest, because the course was principles led rather than applications based. In addition, whilst the Standard Grade course is known to have an average difficulty level, the Higher Grade course is known to be very difficult.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What were the researchers' aims? What attitudes did boys and girls of different ages have towards studying physics? How confident were pupils about their ability to cope with physics courses? How did pupils view carrying on with studying physics? What did boys and girls like and dislike about the content of physics courses? How was the study designed? What are the implications of the study for science teachers? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To view/remove/add notes and save your collated digests click here Get Word Reader Gender and physics (Updated) This digest found in Gender Science Send to a friend Word doc 50KB Printer friendly Collate for later What did boys and girls like and dislike about the content of physics courses? To gauge the interest of girls and boys in various physics topics, all pupils were asked to indicate all the topics they found interesting from a given list. Several marked gender differences in pupils' interest towards specific physics topics were found by the researchers: at primary level, girls showed more interest in 'how musical instruments work' and 'why we usually have a rainbow after rain' , whilst boys were more interested in the 'way electrical equipment works'; at lower secondary level, girls showed more interest in 'how to solve the world food problem', whilst boys were more interested in 'how to construct a simple device to measure the level of radiation', 'how to increase the power of the car engine', 'how to understand the way electrical equipment works' and 'how I can earn money by applying my knowledge'; and more girls than boys on the Standard Grade course showed interest in 'why use of X-rays can be harmful for the human body' and 'why we have earthquakes'. The researchers commented that the end of lower secondary school is a critical time for choosing subjects. This makes the balance of topics an important feature of science education in these years. Students' preferences towards physics activities, such as making equipment and problem solving, were also explored. In the younger classes, girls were generally much less positive about all physics activities than boys. However, in the older classes, girls showed similar interests to the boys for all the activities except they were significantly less interested than boys in doing practical work. The researchers suggested that students' interest in physics revived in the Standard Grade course because the content was based on an applications led approach which engaged their interest. When students entered the Higher Grade course this enthusiasm diminished, they suggest, because the course was principles led rather than applications based. In addition, whilst the Standard Grade course is known to have an average difficulty level, the Higher Grade course is known to be very difficult.