GIRLS ARE NOT PICKING . AS MANY STEM A-LEVELS. AS BOYS, WHILE PROFESSIONAL. FEMALE SCIENTISTS ARE DROPPING. OUT OF THE FIELD. DOES SCIENCE . HAVE A PROBLEM WITH WOMEN? . WORDS: ALICE LIPSCOMBE-SOUTHWELL DISCOVER MORE You can read the full unedited interview, watch the video, or listen to the podcast at sciencefocus.com. We’ll be following up on this in a future issue of BBCFocus – look out for it. Back in the 19th Century, Ada Lovelace carried out pioneering computing work on the Analytical Engine with Charles Babbage, at a time when few women were schooled in maths and sciences. Ada Lovelace Day HCNNU QP |1EVQDGT VJKU [GCT KVU CKO KU VQ increase the profile of women in these careers and inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and mathematicians. This is important, because there are around 40,000 skilled STEM jobs left vacant each year in the UK. The UK’s growing science, engineering and technology industries are crying out for people with STEM A-levels, yet students appear to not be selecting these subjects. This is particularly marked among girls, with just 19 per cent choosing two STEM subjects at A-level compared to 33 per cent of boys. According to the campaigning body Women into Science and Engineering (WISE), computing, further maths and physics at A-level have particularly low proportions of female entrants, at 10, 28 and 22 per cent respectively. Women who do continue on to a science-based career therefore end up in a minority, making up just 23 per cent of people in core STEM occupations. Numbersare slowly rising, which is encouraging, but here at BBC Focus we wanted to understand more about what’s keeping young women from choosing STEM subjects and careers, and why women have a tougher t ime reaching the top and staying there. Here we talk to four women currently working in STEM about their experiences, the problems faced by women and girls, and how we can fix the issues… 2