SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
A revolution is under way in the teaching of computer science in schools in England - but it risks leaving girls and pupils from poorer backgrounds and ethnic minorities behind. That's the conclusion of academics who've studied data about the move from ICT as a national curriculum subject to computer science.
Four years ago, amid general disquiet that ICT was teaching children little more than how Microsoft Office worked, the government took the subject off the national curriculum. The idea was that instead schools should move to offering more rigorous courses in computer science - children would learn to code rather than how to do PowerPoint.
But academics at Roehampton University, who compile an annual study of computing education, have some worrying news. First, just 28% of schools entered pupils for the GCSE in computing in 2015. At A-level, only 24% entered pupils for the qualification.
Then there's the evidence that girls just aren't being persuaded to take an interest - 16% of GCSE computing entrants in 2015 were female and the figure for the A-level was just 8.5% . The qualification is relatively new and more schools - and more girls, took it in 2016 - but female participation was still only 20% for the GCSE and 10% for the A-level.
Why is it girls are not attracted to computer science? Is it some deeply embedded gender bias, or something else?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by kazzie on Friday December 23 2016, @04:12PM
Well my (2 yr old) daughter is growing up in a house full of construction toys, and she pays little attention to the one ragdoll she owns. I'm woring hard to dispell gender stereotypes in this household. (The fact that her mother and father are engineers helps.)
One of her first birthday presents was a caterpillar made of gears [hucksgeneralstore.com]. Six coloured gears sit on pegs and mesh together in a caterpillar shape. Simple but lovely. I saw it in a local shop and knew we couldn't leave without it.
In looking for a picture of it for you, I've just discovered that the manufacturer also makes gendered versions: a Police/Fire Truck [pricefalls.com] and butterfly [ruralking.com]. I'm so glad I found the gender-neutral variety instead.