England’s new Schools Minister thinks single-sex science classes would get more girls to choose careers in science and engineering. “Girls do much better in science in single-sex classes. Sarah McCarthy-Fry tells The Independent. ”They sometimes feel intimidated in mixed-sex classes with the boys hogging the limelight and putting their hands up to answer all the questions.” Mrs Tuck said more people were aware girls learnt differently from boys due to “neurological differences” in the developments of their brains.
“Oh Jeebus, what now? High School Musical-branded Bunsen burners?” groans one wag over at the blog Liberal Conspiracy. “The idea of making the sciences more ‘girl-friendly’ in order to attract more women is not only a crock of s— but, if followed through as a policy objective, yet another nail in the coffin of science education in the UK.”
A slightly more measured take can be found over at Richard Whitmire’s blog, Why Boys Fail.
Please don’t infer racism, but a separate education for boys and girls appeals to a growing segment of UK’s population. Neuroscience in conversation is the new phrenology, and will be used the same way.