Subject Matters

Ground rules for gender free subject choice

Why is it important not to let your gender get in the way of your subject choice? Because the subjects you choose now will affect what you can do when you leave school, that’s why.

And the career you go into in the future will affect your whole adult life: ambitions, earning power, status and lifestyle.

So, even at this early stage, you need to make the right choices. This is hard enough without bringing outdated stereotypes like ‘girls don’t do …..’ or ‘boys aren’t good at…..’ into it.

Facts and figures

Boys and girls do make different choices about what subjects to study at school. This could mean that some pupils are still limiting their options because they continue to have gendered ideas about school subjects.

Look at the table below. What does it tell you about the gender balance within these Standard Grade subjects?

2005 Standard Grade entrants by gender