Maths A Level Popular

[FredPuli43]

Story here:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/education/article3844054.ece


Maths is within touching distance of English as the favourite A level. AS level maths is also popular , as is Advanced Maths. But the subject remains predominantly male (which will satisfy one UKIP member!)

Two questions: Why is it so popular? Why is it predominantly male students who take it?

[neodarwinian]

It is popular because it is seen as important.

An improvement over the mickey mouse course work that some considered a college education.

I think more females are taking math everywhere. At least we see this in the US.

Still, higher level theoretical math is still the purview of males and it could be the somewhat disruptive IQ distribution of males while female IQ distribution is more normally curved. Nothing is settled science here though.

[Hopkirk]

Maths, not Math please.

Short for mathematicS.

[Hypognosis]

Why is it so popular?

- Because you're not going to get far in sciences, or engineering without good understanding of areas like applies maths and statistical analysis. For any other field of employment, if it has a perception - among employers - of being a qualification that is hard to attain, then it has inherent value for the initial sift of job applicants.

Why is it predominantly male students?

- Probably because females self-select to not take it. They may have chosen their career path years previously and need three or more subjects to gain entry, none of which is maths... yet.

[Svejk]

Because women are thick?

[FredPuli43]

LOL@Hopkirk "We see this in the US' means neodarwinian says 'aluminum', labbratory'[laboratory] as well as math. By Jove, science over there is strange, dontchya know ! Goodness knows how they made an atomic bomb or got to the moon with 'math' ,and the other stuff, all wrong !.

[wolf63]

I can't give you a link but I read on t`internet that student entering university to study to become vets vastly outnumbered the males. Something like 80% women to 30% men.

My pal and I went to college to get our maths level about 15 years after we left school. I have 1/12 of a maths degree - studied one course at OU.

[FredPuli43]

I'd have been good at maths but I could never understand all those Greek letters. I heard two Cambridge University maths students on the train talking about some esoteric maths problem when one said "I've just thought. It's years since I saw a maths question with actual numbers in it"

[emmie]

svek, tongue in cheek? because women are not thick, they may not take up maths because the types of degrees, qualifications they are after...
I always struggled with maths, but was good at most other subjects,
it might also be how for so long it has been more geared towards males, and as we know males are generally very competitive..

[emmie]

some interesting points here

http://www.medicaldaily.com/british-girls-who-take-science-and-math-courses-outpace-boys-247428

[Old_Geezer]

Surely maths must always have been number one by a "country mile" (whatever that is) ? Why would English, or any other language, be anywhere near the top ? It's presumably popular because it's interesting and makes sense and tells you about something that isn't just opinion. It is also useful in all the other interesting subjects. Science ones in the main.

It is an age old question as to why males and females find different things easy or difficult. It is presumably partly culture, but I think more than today's PC society wishes to admit, it seems connected to the different ways we are made up. One should leave it to those who study the subject to fill in the details.

[slaney]

Interesting that here in the UK the number of females taking A level Maths is so low.
If you look at a system like the Irish Leaving Certificate (ILC) where Maths is mandatory, girls usually outperform boys.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0820/134664-exams/

The ILC is more broadly based than A Levels - English and Irish are also mandatory - and 7/8 subjects are taken, each equivalent to 2/3rd of an A Level

[Prudie]

I think it might partly be to do with the male brain being more calculating, analytical and logical than females. Plus it'a confidence thing, you need to believe you can achieve in the more scientific topics because you can't get away with words and I think girls lack that confidence.
This is of course all sweeping generalisations. I'm a female and I have a Maths degreee.

[Prudie]

although my typing's not brilliant :-)

[Gromit]

Popular is probably the wrong word, it is a necessity.

Most Universities require a good maths and english result for admission. Boys courses like electronics or physics require top maths marks to join those courses.

[Prudie]

You have just reiterated the question Gromit by calling them boys' courses.

[emmie]

if anyone cares to read the link, it does say that girls who do take up maths, do better overall than the boys... though it is a small percentage, but it's something to ponder on...

[Gromit]

Prudie,

I did not say maths is a boys' course. I said subjects like electronics and physics which attract mainly male students require top maths marks.

The reason why girls are less likely to study sciences is probably down to what society expects of them, and how they are conditioned from an early age.

[Gromit]

Why the gender gap in science?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/us-news-blog/2013/feb/05/girls-science-gender-gap-fix

[Hypognosis]

//The reason why girls are less likely to study sciences is probably down to what society expects of them, and how they are conditioned from an early age. //

What are you looking forward to most... about the 1970s?

[emmie]

sadly some girls seem to take their lead from women like Jordan, but there are plenty of others who don't, otherwise we wouldn't have women doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers and indeed politicians.