Girls may be naturally less inclined to study maths and physics at A-levels than boys, according to research.
A study has found an underlying gender bias in the subjects preferred by male and female students.
Researchers at the Institute of Education in London questioned 10,355 students aged 14 and 15 at 113 secondary schools in England about their intention to study maths and physics after the age of 16.
The results show that three times as many boys “strongly agree” with the idea of taking physics compared to girls.
In total, 13.3 per cent of boys said they “strongly agreed” compared to 4.5 per cent of girls, while 18.7 per cent of boys said they “agreed” compared to 9.9 per cent of girls.
Some 19.5 per cent of boys said they “slightly agreed”, compared to 18.4 per cent of girls.
A quarter (24.9 per cent) of girls “strongly disagreed” with taking physics, compared to 17.7 per cent of boys.
In maths, more than a fifth (22.4 per cent) of boys said they “strongly agreed” with the idea of taking the subject, against 15.1 per cent of girls.
In addition, almost half (47.7 per cent) of boys said their either “agreed” or “slightly agreed” with taking maths, compared to 43.6 per cent of girls.
Around one in eight girls (12.7 per cent) “strongly disagreed” with taking maths, against less than one in ten (9.3 per cent) boys.
The researchers assessed whether school influences, such as test results and their school’s results, had an impact on whether students’ plan to take up the subjects.
But the study concludes that these do not account for the differences between genders.
It stated: “Gender was a significant predictor of intention to participate in mathematics and physics in all our models (in favour of boys) even within our final complex value added models that accounted for students’ prior attainment and several school level influences.”
Lead researcher Tamjid Mujtaba, said: “This is really important. All other things being equal, girls are less likely to intend to go on to study the subjects than boys. These do seem to be seen as male-oriented subjects.