News Digest

One-third of British schoolgirls don’t think they are smart enough to be scientists

A third of British schoolgirls don’t think they are smart enough to become scientists. That is despite evidence that many girls enjoy and are good at science at school. Figures based on data commissioned by EDF Energy show boys are five times more likely than girls to want to be engineers. Sky News visited the East London Science School to find out how young female students felt about a career in science. Student Thajkera Khanom wants to be an oncologist but said some people still had outdated views on what they should study.

It’s a mindset that girls should stick to more dainty things like art or photography and boys should do the manly subjects like engineering and physics.

Student Thajkera Khanom.

In the past three years, the number of women working in scientific and technical roles has increased by 50,000, or 8%. Leading women in science are encouraging more women to follow their example. “There’s absolutely nothing that a man can do in engineering that I can’t,” said chemical engineer Sarah Button. “I chose science and engineering because I wanted to have a positive impact on the world and leave my mark in a really tangible way.”