Pushing at an open door

You’d like to think that, 30 odd years on from equal pay and sex discrimination legislation, there would be no such thing as men’s and women’s jobs. Think again. At the moment, boys and girls still tend to go into traditional jobs, in other words, jobs that are somehow linked with being either male or female.

Here’s the evidence: a recent report showed that in Scotland, there are only:

• 4 female plumbing Modern Apprenticeships
• 41 female construction Modern Apprentices
• 50 female engineering Modern Apprentices
• 15 male child care Modern Apprentices

Shocking, isn’t it? You’d think that attitudes might have changed a bit. Yet another recent survey shows that young people in Scotland are still struggling to overcome sex stereotyping:

• 82% of those surveyed thought that working in construction was for men only
• 61% thought that working in childcare was only suitable for women.

Things are going to have to change, but when, and how?

At school, some subjects are more gendered than others. For example, in 2006

• 57% of girls and 23% of boys gained Biology passes, while
• 42% of boys and 24% of girls gained passes in Computing Studies