Why girls with a talent for math and science still have the best opportunities in STEM fields
"I will definitely study math," Hanna Skobowsky emphasizes with conviction. Not that she is any worse at the other subjects - she made the choice more because "math has always fascinated me and, unlike my passion for music, will certainly be the better option when it comes to choosing a job." A conviction with which the eleventh-grader at Schloss-Schule Kirchberg will probably be proven right - and yet she is still the exception among girls her age: Although, according to experts, girls have the same - in some cases even higher - aptitude in mathematics and science than boys, only a small proportion of them later choose mathematics, IT, science or technology, or STEM for short, when choosing a major at school or when choosing an apprenticeship or career. And thus miss out on the best opportunities.
Actively promoting female STEM talent, breaking through role models
For years, the proportion of women in STEM professions in Germany has stagnated at around 15%, despite numerous government support programs and projects such as the nationwide Girls' Day. Although the number of women in STEM degree courses is increasing, they are still underrepresented at less than 30 percent; the proportion of young women in STEM training is only around 11 percent. This is despite the fact that the potential of girls and young women can open up more than good opportunities for the future in view of the increasing shortage of STEM specialists in Germany. So why this feminine reticence? "You have to actively show girls their potential and specifically support the talents that are evident in the classroom," is Alena Geißler's - actually simple - answer. The math and computer science teacher from Kirchberg is not alone in her call for stronger, early support for STEM talent in schools and at home: studies and PISA evaluations confirm that girls often "fall short" in STEM subjects because they don't feel supported enough or encouraged enough by parents, teachers and female role models. As a result, stereotypical role models that attribute lower mathematical and scientific abilities to girls - albeit unconsciously - break through even among talented schoolgirls.
Self-underestimation of girls as an obstacle
"Yes, the preconception that STEM subjects are not for girls plays a major role in the orientation of schoolgirls," confirms Lisa Sophie Eberlein, a student teacher of mathematics and physics at the University of Ulm. She adds that, especially during puberty, when many girls want to be particularly feminine, you have to have a healthy self-confidence and supporters in order to avoid role clichés. Education researcher Felix Weinhardt from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) has also found that the lack of self-confidence due to a socially suggested STEM weakness of girls is still a real problem in this country, because it often puts girls off these subjects: "Women apparently also study these subjects far less often than men because they underestimate their mathematical abilities very early on in their school years and therefore develop preferences for other subjects, mostly languages," is his conclusion on the self-assessment of boys and girls in mathematics. This makes it all the more urgent, according to Weinhardt's appeal, for girls to be given more encouragement, especially by teachers, but also by parents, and to be convinced of their existing abilities.
"If I hadn't been supported so intensively from the 3rd grade onwards by math teachers and math courses at the university, which I was allowed to attend back then, I probably wouldn't have decided to study math now," attests pupil Hanna Skobowsky. After all, she probably wouldn't have even thought of going in this direction herself. Often, schoolgirls actually have a very limited idea of what options the STEM fields in particular offer and how diverse the corresponding inclinations could be later on. In other words, girls need to be given information about various STEM training and career paths at an early stage in order to tap into their natural interest in the natural sciences. The best time to do this is before they reach puberty - this is when girls tend to fall back on socially defined role models as part of their search for identity. Girls interested in STEM could, for example, focus on applications of scientific knowledge in ecology or food technology as well as sectors such as medical or health technology. This is a view that parents who are not themselves active in the STEM field are less likely to be able to convey - but teachers can!
More STEM info from female career role models
"In my opinion, the most effective approach is early mono-information in schools and at home. In other words, information about the variety of STEM fields specifically for girls - and preferably presented by women or mothers who work in STEM professions," says math teacher Alena Geißler. Girls need more female role models with whom they can identify - "regardless of whether they are young female students from science departments or female technicians and computer scientists from the private sector," says Geißler. The fact that female role models, such as herself as a math teacher, actually have a positive influence on the self-perception of female students' talent in STEM subjects has even been scientifically confirmed. Girls with science-oriented mothers or women in the family, as well as female teachers in the STEM field, are not only more interested in STEM subjects, but are also more confident in them.
However, Alena Geißler does not think much of mono-education, i.e. teaching STEM subjects separately according to gender. Although in some girls' schools or classes, a higher self-assessment of female students' performance in mathematics, physics or chemistry has been observed, "they still have to cope in a male world in these areas later on," says Geißler.
"I once completed a mechatronics internship - I was the only woman in the room the whole time," is Hanna Skobowsky's personal experience. "But I'm also very self-confident because I got confirmation early on that I'm talented in mathematics and technology," she adds. A point that student Lisa Sophie Eberlein can also confirm: "We women have the advantage, especially in math and physics, that we tend to work in a structured way anyway. We can therefore have the confidence to study in this field - if we stand above other opinions with old role models." Society needs young women interested in STEM, also as a new generation of female role models in the field of mathematics and science. "Lisa Sophie Eberlein, a former pupil at Schloss-Schule, also sees herself in this upcoming role model function: "When I stand in front of pupils later on - perhaps even at my old school - I can convince them as a teacher of how exciting physics or math can be for everyone." "Girls who decide to focus on STEM subjects need to be aware that they will still be working in male-dominated fields later in their careers," adds math teacher Alena Geißler. "But if they have the confidence to do so and we teach them early on that they should use their potential and how to do so, they will have the best chances."