Mind the gender gap

INSPIRATION CORNER

Mind the gender gap

Ahead of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Alliance policy and standards manager Melanie Pilcher reflects on the role of the early years in making science accessible to every child

Melanie is responsible for resources that support best practice in all matters relating to the EYFS.

Sunday 11 February marks International Day of Women and Girls in Science (IDWGS), an annual celebration organised by UNESCO and UN Women that aims to promote women and girls reaching their full potential in science.

Every year on this date, the UN hosts an assembly to discuss initiatives to increase female participation in science globally. 2024 is the ninth year of the celebration and yet, despite some progress, only one in three scientists in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) is a woman. So, what can we in the early years do to help change these figures?

Life sciences – including biology, anatomy and physiology – have had been more successful in improving gender balance, but it has taken a long time to achieve parity.

Every child is born a scientist

There are many theories about the gender gap in science, which stems from more than just about workplace discrimination. A 2021 report suggests that there’s a strong nature/ nurture influence because our preferences and priorities are shaped by the people and the world around us, but also due to how gender roles in society are still allocated. Educators play a significant role in shaping young children’s sense of their place in the world and the possibilities open to them.

What we do and say in early years helps children to achieve their full potential, the foundations of which are already built when children come into the world. From birth, children are naturally curious; they are explorers, pioneers, experimenters, and risk takers. In early years, we recognise these qualities as the characteristics of effective learning:

playing and exploring
active learning
thinking creatively and critically

These are fundamental to a scientist’s ability to make life-changing discoveries and advance knowledge.

What can we do in early years?

Opportunities for STEM do not always have to be planned; they are everywhere – educators just need to recognise them. For example, young children developing schemas are engineering as they repeatedly post shapes into a sorter, or experimenting as they repeat actions over and over to examine cause and effect. It’s all science!

Educators may observe that boys are drawn to certain activities and girls to others. This is partly due to gender stereotyping from a very young age, but it may also be due to subliminal messages within the learning environment – particularly if they join up with similar messages in the home environment. The aim is not simply to target girls, however, but to create enabling environments that invite scientific discovery for every child, regardless of gender or gender expression.

Consider the overarching principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage:

Unique child: The home learning environment has the most powerful impact on children’s aspirations and what they can expect from the world. The toys they play with and the activities and experiences they have are all part of the ‘cultural capital’ that they bring to your setting. We must begin by valuing a child’s unique cultural capital, while seeking out new experiences. For example, does the child whose family enjoys listening to music on the radio, hear music played live and wonder at the different instruments, how they are played and the sounds they make? It’s all about engineering and technology!

Positive relationships: It has been shown that having examples of women undertaking roles that are traditionally thought of as male (and vice versa) helps to establish new norms. Even so, it is not unheard of for a young child to say: “That’s not a girl’s job” when presented with an image of a woman mending a car or launching a rocket. Such comments can be challenged sensitively while encouraging children to think differently.

Enabling environments: Does the learning environment invite exploration and discovery? Is there a balance between familiar and predictable spaces and those that are challenging and complex? For example, is your home corner stuck in a time warp? Does it consist of child-sized domestic appliances and ‘homely’ props where children role-play domestic stereotypes? If so, it is likely that girls will colonise the home corner and take on a role dictated by the confines of the resources available.

Rethink your home corner: Create a laboratory instead, with test tubes, pipettes, protective glasses, beakers, and funnels. Add resources for children to explore and experiment with: cabbage leaves or flower petals to create dyes and perfumes, or magnets and paperclips to test magnet strength. Establish a workshop area where children can take items to be dismantled, repurposed, or repaired.

Reflect on why it is that girls rarely say they want to be an astronaut. It’s probably because they rarely see images of themselves in media footage linked to space exploration!

Learning and development

As highlighted, children and scientists share the same characteristics. Our role is to nurture lifelong learners, which is a good way to describe a scientist, too.

Science involves problem solving and can be observed as a baby solves the mystery of where the teddy bear has gone by lifting the cloth. Educators must continue to inspire young children with new mysteries and problems to overcome every day.

Effective Practice in Early Years: Focus on Learning Science is a downloadable fact sheet that suggests a range of strategies that can be used with a focus on learning science using any object to enhance scientific thinking:

‘I see...’ is the beginning. Children look at the object, maybe draw it, and say what they see (an adult may need to prompt by saying, ‘I see...’). If the object is an unfamiliar one this is a good place to spot misconceptions that may need to be addressed.

‘I notice...’ adds detail and encourages children to put ideas into words using appropriate vocabulary. At this point they need to handle the object so that they can describe what they feel, hear and maybe even smell. If children struggle, adults can support and model vocabulary (very useful for children with English as an additional language or SEND).

‘I wonder...’ is the beginning of formulating questions and understanding different enquiry types. Children can then be supported to find out the answer.

If we can embed scientific thinking in girls and boys from the earliest age, we are taking the first steps towards making science accessible to every child, no matter what their gender.

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