How to attract girls… to science

The BBC education news feed carried an interesting article on the gender split in science education which was based on research carried out by the Nestlé Social Research Programme. The main finding, rather unsurprisingly imho, is that girls like their science with a conscience.

From the press release:

…for girls, being more interested in science goes hand in hand with sensitivity to ethical issues, dangers, and the context in which scientific development happens.

More surprisingly:

…girls don't seem to equate science and technology in the way that boys do. Girls separate science, which they like, from technology, which they find much less appealing.

So what's this got to do with narrative? Well no post would be complete without a sprinkling of Jane Gilbert's thoughts ;-)

Science’s special status as ‘objective,’ ‘value-free’ knowledge is achieved through its (apparent) ability to split itself off from the concerns, feelings, and inner life of people: that is, from the very things that are the primary focus of narratives.

Jane then makes the point that "possibly because science is represented to students in the ways outlined above [‘objective’ and ‘value-free’] …it becomes unattractive to large numbers of students"—especially female students.