Physicist Dr Jess Wade made headlines this summer for her campaign to get a copy of Angela Saini’s book Inferior into every UK school. The campaign aims to help schools break down gender stereotypes, challenging and supporting all young people to develop their abilities in all fields and to choose from a full breadth of career options. In this blog post for the NACE community, Dr Wade explains what motivated her to launch the campaign, and suggests six steps all schools can take to reduce gender bias.

This is a big year: 2018 marks 100 years since (some) women got the vote and 70 years since women could graduate from the University of Cambridge. For completeness: it is almost 200 years since the majority of men could vote and 809 years since they could graduate from Cambridge.

In many ways, we have come a long way since Charles Darwin wrote “the average of mental power in a man must be above that of a woman” in The Descent of Man (1881). But gender bias and stereotypes still impact young people’s self-confidence and subject choices, which is limiting their career opportunities and damaging the UK economy.

Despite boys and girls doing equally well at physics GCSE, girls only make up 22% of the physics A-level cohort (and this is the highest it has been for almost 10 years). The Institute of Physics (IOP) has been researching this for decades. In 2012 it found that more half of state-maintained secondary schools had no girls in their physics A-level classes and in 2013 that schools which had the fewest girls in physics A-level also had the fewest boys in psychology.

The Opening Doors report, published in 2015 by the IOP and the Government Equalities Office, offers teachers guidance and support in their efforts toward gender equality. In 2016, the Improving Gender Balance project recommended whole-school interventions to stop gender inequities in A-level choice, recognising that a school-wide approach is needed to make a difference.

The Inferior campaign

Last year Angela Saini published Inferior: The True Power of Women and the Science that Shows It. The book is a powerful collection of evidence that challenges the notion of differences between men and women. From parallel parking to an innate ability in maths, the science behind stereotypes is often dodgy and experiments are rarely reproducible.

Reading Inferior changed my life. It armed me with the facts to take on even the fiercest of naysayers and inspired me to speak up and fight harder. I’ve been taking it with me ever since – to every conference and every new research lab – and when I see someone impressive speak I give them a copy. Inferior has been so well received by the scientific community that last year Saini did a tour of UK universities, filling lecture theatres with passionate students and academics.

In mid-July I realised we should get Inferior into schools, so I set up a crowdfunding campaign with my friend Dr Claire Murray, hoping to get it into every all-girls state school in the country. We reached that goal in less than 24 hours, so raised the bar even higher: every state school in Britain.

Thanks to Saini’s epic publishers (4th Estate), who agreed to match any funds we raised and manage distribution, it took less than 12 days for 800 people to donate enough money. At some stage over the next academic year, Inferior will be finding its way to your school library. Instead of just telling young people about stereotypes, we want them to read about the science, history, individuals and societies behind such stereotypes for themselves. I want them to get as excited as I am about challenging bias, and as motivated as I am for a fairer future.

6 changes all schools can make now

When you receive your copy of Inferior, I hope you use it as the stimulus for discussion with young people, and to plan activities within and beyond the classroom. A bunch of people who donated to the campaign didn’t want to just stop there; together we are creating a set of resources to help teachers make effective use of Inferior (sign up to help out here).

In the meantime, here are six changes you can make straight away:

1. Stop using sexist and gendered language

Whether it is “we need a couple of strong boys” or “you girls will be good at this creative part”, such sentences stick around in young people’s consciousness and affect their perception of themselves and others.

2. Collect data

Compare your school to national averages and identify areas for concern – then act on them.

3. Build careers guidance into lessons

Make sure it is up-to-date and gender neutral. If you’re keen on using “role models”, plan this carefully; try to make their relationship with the school more long-term and invite parents along. A lot of early-career scientists and engineers hang out on Twitter – find us there!

4. Stop saying subjects are “hard”

Some people find art impossible and some can’t add up the tab at a bar – and that’s ok. Teachers are incredibly influential and their biases can have a profound impact on young people’s perceptions. Instead of characterising certain fields as inherently difficult or referring to natural talent, talk about each individual working to the best of his/her ability.

5. Acknowledge unconscious bias

Teachers need to be aware of how they might inadvertently send gendered views to their students. Schools can support this through formal training, by signposting resources such as online tests designed to highlight unconscious bias, and by establishing a norm of acknowledging and discussing these issues.

6. Don’t try and do it all by yourselves

Get students and parents involved too. Discuss gendered aspirations at parents’ evenings. Get students to read Inferior and discuss ways to change school culture so that it is more equal for everyone.

For a more comprehensive list, read the IOP’s Opening Doors report.

Finally, remember you are NOT alone. 800 people raised £22,000 in less than two weeks to get Inferior into your classrooms. Read, share, discuss, and make a difference!

Dr Jess Wade is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Physics and Centre for Plastic Electronics at Imperial College London. She is a member of the WISE Young Women’s Board and the WES Council, founder of Women in Physics at Imperial, and has worked with teachers across the country through the Stimulating Physics Network. Her significant work in public engagement and school outreach has been widely recognised, recently through the Daphne Jackson Medal and Prize. She tweets @jesswade.

Looking for ideas to challenge your more able learners in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)? In this blog post, Alex Pryce selects four “Big Questions” from the University of Oxford’s Oxplore project – providing rich starting points for debate, investigation and independent learning…

Oxplore is an innovative digital outreach portal from the University of Oxford. As the “Home of Big Questions”, it aims to engage 11- to 18-year-olds with debates and ideas that go beyond what is covered in the classroom. Big Questions tackle complex ideas across a wide range of subjects and draw on the latest research undertaken at Oxford. Oxplore aims to realise aspirations, promote broader thinking and stimulate intellectual curiosity.

Our Big Questions reflect the kind of thinking students undertake at universities like Oxford. Each question is accompanied by supporting resources – including videos; quiz questions; possible answers, explanations and areas for investigation; and suggestions from Oxford faculty members.In the classroom, these four STEM-related Big Questions could offer super-curricular enrichment spanning a diverse range of subject areas. Teachers could ask students to design a mini research project on a particular aspect of the question, or extend their learning by challenging them to create Big Questions of their own.

1. Are explosions always destructive?

Provoke debate around the Big Bang, chaos, laws of probability, and where explosions fit into this as examples of order and disorder. Students can learn about the history of explosions, and positive examples of the things that wouldn’t exist without them. Delve deeper into the science behind the nuclear bomb and take a closer look at creatures that could survive one.

Perfect for: a wide-ranging subject discussion.

2. Is a robot a person?

What does it mean to be a human being? Examine the nature of intelligence, language, creativity and the law with your students. You can debate the role of artificial intelligence within society and explore the boundaries between computers and consciousness – now and in the future.

Perfect for: debating future technological developments.

3. Can time travel ever be possible?

We all travel forward through time, but what happens if we change how we do this, or the speed in which we travel? Inspire your students to explore special relativity in action – through GPS, electromagnets, and TV and PC screens.

Perfect for: Doctor Who fans!

4. Is it OK to clone a human being?

Is it right to interfere with nature? Introduce your students to the science of stem cell research, therapeutic cloning, and create neuroethics debates. Discuss whether humans should be allowed to “design” new animals, and explore the development of cloning: from Hans Spemann’s original 1902 experiment that split a salamander embryo in two, to the first successful human embryos cloned in 2008.

Perfect for: discussions of the weird and wonderful.

Alex Pryce is Oxplore’s Widening Access and Participation Coordinator (Communications and Engagement), leading on marketing and dissemination activities including stakeholder engagement and social media. She has worked in research communications, public engagement and PR for several years through roles in higher education (HE) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). She holds a DPhil in English from the University of Oxford and is a part-time HE tutor.

NACE is proud to partner with the NRICH project at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Mathematical Sciences, which offers free online resources to enrich the mathematics curriculum, provide challenging and meaningful activities, and develop mathematical thinking and problem-solving skills. In this blog post, the project’s director, Ems Lord, explains why and how NRICH is developing resources designed to get GCSE students seriously interested in Further Mathematics…

Entries for the Further Mathematics A-level have tripled in recent years, from around 5,000 students in 2005 to a staggering 15,000 by 2015 (source: JCQ). But one of the greatest recent success stories in mathematics is under threat.


Figure 1: Entries for Further Mathematics up to 2016 (source: JCQ)

The transformation of Further Mathematics has all the ingredients of a great news story, yet the latest figures are alarming. Anecdotal evidence from both schools and colleges indicate a staggering 50% drop in the number of students opting to study Further Mathematics this year.

Recent changes in national policy promoting the study of three A-levels have hit Further Mathematics – often regarded as a fourth option – harder than most subjects. The NRICH team at the University of Cambridge has joined up with colleagues at the University of Oxford to address concerns regarding the current decline in Further Mathematics entries. The realisation that many GCSE students do not appreciate the opportunities offered by Further Mathematics led to our new set of free resources for schools, which we’ve called Adventures with Complex Numbers.

Why focus on complex numbers?

The current GCSE mathematics curriculum offers learners very limited insights into some of the most exciting topics awaiting them with Further Mathematics, such as complex numbers. The topic offers a terrific opportunity to give students interested in a range of different subjects a real taste of Further Mathematics well before they make their A-level choices. Complex numbers is an engaging topic for potential artists, engineers and scientists, as well as future mathematicians.


Figure 2: The Mandlebrot Fractal, a very popular concept with artists, who frequently exploit the level of detail and complexity revealed by zooming in on the original image.

What resources are available?

The key here is remembering that the resources created by NRICH are aimed at GCSE students; they are not intended for A-level teaching, although teachers may recognise their potential for those students too.

The materials adopt two straightforward approaches towards complex numbers. First, they explore the day-to-day applications of complex numbers in the real world. Learners can hear first-hand accounts about the crucial role that complex numbers play in the electricity networks that power our daily lives and how they help engineers keep structures safe and stable – as well as some spectacular examples of what can go wrong!


Figure 3: A dramatic clip from Professor Ahmer Wadee’s video Complex Numbers – Strength

The second approach encourages learners to explore complex numbers for themselves. The team have devised a range of animations which encourage a very hands-on approach, letting learners ask themselves “What if?” and giving them the tools to explore their ideas:


Figure 4: Screenshot from Vanishing Roots

So, they’re interested… What next?

We very much hope that learners enjoy the interactive resources and first-hand accounts exploring the uses of complex numbers. But the resources go much further than that. Learners can access a range of articles which take the topic much deeper, allowing them to discover how Heron of Alexandria missed his chance to explore the unknown mathematical land of complex numbers, as well as exploring the role of complex numbers in movie animation. For learners considering signing up for the Further Mathematics A-level, there’s also a live link to the national Further Mathematics Support Programme.

We’re not suggesting that this set of new resources will halt the declining numbers of Further Mathematics entries. Clearly, other agencies need to get involved too to arrest the decline. But we do hope they will offer an excellent starting point for engaging learners with the ideas they’ll encounter when studying Further Mathematics, and that they will be tempted to learn more about the possibilities offered by the subject.

Ems Lord has been Director of NRICH since 2015, following a previous role leading one of the country's largest Mathematics Specialist Teacher Programmes. Ems has taught mathematics across the key stages, from early years to A-level Further Mathematics, and has worked in a variety of settings, including a hospital school. She’s supported schools as a leading mathematics teacher, local authority consultant and Chartered Mathematics Teacher, and has taught mathematics education on both BEd and PGCE teacher programmes. She is currently working on her PhD thesis, which explores approaches to improve support for those learning calculation skills, and is President-Elect of the Mathematical Association for 2019-2020.

1. Invest in high-quality training for all teachers and support staff

2. Introduce a weekly vocabulary lesson

3. Focus on high-quality teaching of reading

4. Create a language-rich environment

5. Provide rich writing experiences