As Katharine Birbalsingh steps down as the government social mobility tsar, a thread on girls, physics & the devastating effect of stereotypes.

Girls are not put off physics because of "hard maths" (girls got more top grades than boys in A level maths in 2021 & 2022). Instead,

girls (and young people from ethnic minorities and disadvantaged backgrounds) are put off physics because they’re told from an early age that physics is not for them.

Like: "My dad told me not to study physics because it wasn’t for women and the maths was too hard.”

“My A-level teacher told me that girls didn’t tend to be very good at physics, so I might struggle at uni. He said there was only one girl on his undergraduate course and that she wasn’t very good.”

"Whenever a topic was mentioned that linked to A-level physics, our teacher would look towards a certain group of boys and say, “you’ll need to remember this for A-level”, even when I’d told him at various revision sessions that I was considering physics as a degree."

All direct quotes from young people we interviewed for our #IOPLimitLess campaign, which works to break down lazy stereotypes that hold young people back and put them off physics.

Read more about the impact of stereotypes and Limit Less here: www.iop.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/IOP-Limit-Less-report-2020-Nov.pdf

And for some incredible physics role models to counter these stereotypes, check out (and share) our Superheroes Unlimited: www.iop.org/explore-physics/superheroes-unlimited #IOPLimitLess