Why girls still don't want to be scientists

Try it. Ask a child to draw a scientist. The vast majority will draw a man, most likely with glasses, a white coat, and wild hair, like Einstein. It's the image most often repeated in books, comics, TV series, and movies they watch, even in textbooks. A stereotype that shapes children's imaginations, despite the efforts of recent years to combat it, and that has a detrimental effect on children, especially girls, who still grow up thinking that science isn't for them.

This prejudice they internalize from a young age—that men are the ones who do science—translates into fewer women choosing to study scientific and technological careers, the so-called STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), and fewer women end up working in this sector, These are the women who enjoy the highest social standing and salaries.

Globally, although women represent more than half of the world's student body, only 35% pursue science and technology studies in OECD countries. Catalonia is no exception: 60% of undergraduate students are women; in health sciences, this percentage rises to 72.8%, according to Data from the Department of Research and Universities, 2024 But in terms of engineering and architecture, it falls to 29.9%. A comprehensive study conducted by Esade in 2024 The disparity was quantified: in most STEM degrees, the ratio of men to women is practically 9 to 1.

"Talent has no gender, but opportunities often do," noted Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, at the presentation of a report.

The fact that women do not access this sector is not only tremendously unfair to half the population, who are deprived of opportunities and recognition and excluded from positions of power and decision-making, but it also represents an immense loss of talent that undermines society's collective capacity to face challenges.

"The future of Europe depends on this. A truly competitive and innovative Europe needs all talent, regardless of gender," Zaharieva argued.

It is proven that the diversity of talents, perspectives, and intelligences exponentially improves any task, including research. Conversely, the opposite impoverishes it, with potentially very serious consequences. Because diversity shapes the questions we ask, the methods we use, and the solutions we produce.

Research is not neutral; rather, it reflects the perspectives, priorities, and lived experiences of those who design it. For example, a well-known case: for decades, only men participated in clinical trials, and the male body was used exclusively for scientific studies. This has resulted in more women dying from heart attacks because their symptoms, which differ from those of men, were neither recognized nor treated. Not to mention medications, which are metabolized differently; or vehicle seat belts, and so many other things designed by and for men.

At age 6, brightness is associated with children

Traditionally, the overrepresentation of boys in science and technology has been assumed to be natural. To explain this, differences in interests and even abilities have been cited, as if there were a male brain gifted for mathematics, physics, and chemistry, and a female brain, prepared for languages ​​and caregiving—an idea systematically and decisively disproven by all scientific research. In fact, studies show that this gender segregation is anything but natural, and that it is the result of a cocktail of stereotypes and biases that are already evident as early as age three and that exclude girls from these fields.

"The gender gap appears very early," explains Carme Grimalt, a chemist and researcher in the Department of Mathematics and Science Education at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. The age of three is the peak of symbolic play: "It's when children begin to become aware of the patterns of socialization and how society functions, and to reproduce them through play. And it's the moment when biases begin to take root," Grimalt points out. Just look at what happens in a three-year-old classroom, where girls tend to play doctors, veterinarians, and shopkeepers, while boys play at building things, cars, and roads. These patterns are already present in children's lives, and they are reinforced at school. "When they arrive at school, they already have more mothers than fathers who either don't work or have reduced hours; more mothers who contribute less to the family economy and more to family logistics," observes Digna Couso, head of the Research Center for Science and Mathematics Education (CRECIM) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

A key turning point occurs around age six, when children begin to associate brilliance with the male gender, which later influences the distribution of women and men across academic disciplines. Eduard Vallory, director general of BIST and president of Catesco—the Catalan organization for education, science, and culture, linked to UNESCO, from where he spearheaded the educational reform initiative Escola Nova 21—brings this to the table a study conducted a decade ago Research by researchers from New York University and Princeton University showed that up to age 5, children do not differentiate between boys and girls when they think of someone who is "very, very intelligent," but that by age 6, girls attribute this quality more to boys and move away from activities associated with intellectual brilliance.

"I'm not good, I'm hardworking"

Added to this are the unconscious biases that parents and teachers hold, which lead them to encourage boys and girls to follow different paths. Several studies conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland demonstrate this, indicating that six out of ten teachers have unconscious gender stereotypes regarding STEM that they can transmit to their students. "How many times in evaluation meetings do we refer to Maria as a very good student, a little ant, and Manel as a mischievous but brilliant student who ultimately does nothing and skips class? And who knows what these boys and girls do at home?" asks Couso. Families, too, often unconsciously reinforce the belief that their sons and daughters have different abilities in STEM subjects. And this cocktail of biases, stereotypes, and preconceived ideas, as evidenced by the 2022 report by Milagros Sáinz, a researcher at the UOC within the United Nations Group of Women Experts, leads girls to see themselves as more competent in reading and languages, and boys in mathematics.

"When girls reach high school, they already know that science isn't for them, and it's very difficult to change their minds," says Couso. "Even if they get good grades, they usually think it's because they study, not because they're brilliant or good at math," Grimalt points out.

These socially constructed stereotypes that associate genius with men "discourage women from pursuing prestigious careers, while they make boys much more confident in their abilities," says Vallory, for whom this "also explains the underrepresentation of girls in fields that value the countryside."

For Núria Prunés, director of the IES Lluís Vives in Barcelona, ​​the message from teachers has changed in recent years, but "it's clear that there are still popular beliefs that are difficult to overcome, not only in schools, but in society as a whole."

At this school, for example, with a project heavily focused on STEM and preparing students for vocational training, they continue to see that "it's difficult to get girls to enroll in professional pathways; advanced vocational training programs are still very male-dominated."

The gender gap is tackled starting in schools

In Catalonia, efforts have been underway for years to change this narrative. For example, coinciding with the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, established by UNESCO in 2015, the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI), together with BIST, has been promoting the #científicas (scientists) initiative for the past eight years. These days, nearly 600 female researchers from public and private research institutions are traveling throughout the region, giving talks in 530 schools to show children that scientists are ordinary people who dedicate themselves to science, not geniuses. And, importantly, to teach girls in the final year of primary school and the first year of secondary school (ages 11 to 13) that they, too, can certainly be researchers. "We want to bring girls closer to real and relatable role models of female scientists, so they can be inspired," says Miquel Gómez Clarés, CEO of the FCRI. Other initiatives, such as the Magnet program, Alliances for Educational Success, promoted by the Bofill Foundation, the Barcelona Education Consortium, and the Department of Education, are also contributing in this direction. Roser Argemí, the coordinator, explains that the project has been running for 12 years with the aim of facilitating the integration of research institution knowledge across the curriculum in schools, promoting research and learning projects. "It's not just one hour of science; all projects and subjects have a scientific perspective." The Mas Falcó School, in the Vallcarca neighborhood of Barcelona, ​​is one of the participating schools, in this case for the past three years, in partnership with IDAEA, a CSIC research center located in Barcelona. Researchers from this institution visit classrooms from preschool through sixth grade. "The boys and girls see them; they have a role model of what it means to be a scientist," says Laia Rodríguez López, head of studies at this school.

They had already noticed that "the space boys occupy leaves girls largely on the periphery of topics of debate and conversation." A clear example, they point out, is the playground, "where boys have most of the physical space, the playing field, and girls stay on the periphery." According to Rodríguez López, "the school must provide opportunities for boys to express themselves, but also for girls to have a voice."

And they've been doing this since the third year of primary school (E3). Laura Perea Sáez explains that in preschool they work on topics ranging from genetics to how the human body knows when to grow, or pregnancy. "When we did experiments, in the end, the only protagonists were the boys," this teacher recalls. Now, they start with learning situations, with questions that can arise from the children themselves and that highlight the scientific method and data collection. “We give voice to the entire process we generate and we give importance to the process. We value divergent thinking, and in all this more reflective part, girls have powerful things to say,” says Perea Sáez.

“Diversifying the way science is taught gives space to girls and other types of children. It is synonymous with quality,” says Couso, from the UAB, for whom promoting girls' participation in STEM should not be done only to awaken vocations. “It is the tool we have to take care of ourselves, our loved ones, our environment,” she affirms about science. “It empowers you to have critical thinking when someone tells you that vaccines don't work or that the climate crisis doesn't exist.” Scientific knowledge, she assures, allows for better decision-making. “It is a major problem that women have fewer opportunities to do so, to become educated, to become literate, to develop critical thinking.”