IET's economic warning over lack of girls taking A-level maths and physics
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Economic prosperity could be at risk if more students, particularly females, do not study and successfully complete maths and physics as enabling subjects, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has warned in the wake of this week's A-level results.
The publication of the latest exam results in the UK reveals a marked difference between the number of male and female students taking maths and physics at A-level.
IET Policy Advisor Jayne Hall said: "Maths and physics are crucial gateway subjects and vital to the industry and economy as a whole. With recent results from the IET's Skills & Demand survey showing that only 7 per cent of the engineering and technology workforce are women, action needs to be taken at an early stage by encouraging females into these subjects.
"Students are aware of the importance of A-level maths to starting a career in engineering, but the perceived importance of physics is much lower.
"It is vital that we encourage more students, particularly females, to study these key enabling subjects. Currently, female students effectively rule themselves out of an engineering career at age 14 by not studying maths and physics. We must change this so that students can make informed subject choices."
