Bridging the gender gap: Why do so few girls study Stem subjects?

To attract more girls to study Stem subjects at university, we need to tackle the stereotypes they are exposed to early on

You will no doubt be aware that women are underrepresented in Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) occupations. They make up 14.4% of all people working in Stem in the UK, despite being about half of the workforce. This is well short of the country's goal of a critical mass of 30%. Increasing women in Stem is forecast to increase the UK's labour value by at least 2bn.

There is a whole tangle of reasons why the gender gap in Stem exists. One is a pipeline issue - fewer girls than boys choose to study Stem subjects at secondary school and university. Interventions internationally mean the numbers of girls in Stem subjects are creeping up very slowly, but the gap remains surprisingly resistant nonetheless.