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Females Now Make ­p Less Than One Tenth of Computer Science Students in the ­.K.


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A young girl and boy learning basic concepts in engineering.

According to the most recent figures published by the U.K. Department of Education, less than 10% of computer science students in the U.K. are female, and some schools have no female information and computing technology students at all.

Credit: eie.org

Less than 10% of computer science students in the U.K. are female, and some schools have no female information and computing technology (ICT) students at all, according to the most recent figures published by the U.K. Department of Education.

Specifically, 0.4% of female students taking Advanced Level (A-level) classes chose to enroll in computer science in 2017, compared with 4.5% of males.

he department also found only 18.1% of females taking A-levels chose math, and 2.3% chose advanced math, compared with 33% and 7.1% for males, respectively.

These trends could be attributed to the way students perceive the subjects, and recent curriculum changes have not helped the issue, says Fiona Usher, head of Computing & ICT at Battle Abbey School. She contends the government should play a greater role in encouraging more females to pursue information technology-focused education.

From Computing
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