WIREDGOV

An Ofsted report, ‘Girls’ career aspirations’, has found that some girls are receiving weak careers education, which is making it difficult for them to make properly informed choices about courses and careers.

The report is based on findings from visits to 16 primary schools, 25 secondary schools, including 13 single-sex girls’ schools, and with female learners from 10 colleges. Inspectors also contacted 36 businesses linked to 12 schools.

In most of the schools visited, not enough was being done to promote the confidence, drive and ambition of girls to take risks in challenging vocational stereotypes. Through discussions, inspectors found that girls aged 11 to 14 years had limited knowledge and understanding of how choices about courses and careers influenced pay and progression.

A narrow range of gender-stereotypical work placements dominated choices in almost all the schools visited. Of the 1,725 examples of work placements for young women collected from school records, only 164 represented non-stereotypical experiences.

The girls from the schools visited predominantly held stereotypical views about jobs for men and women, despite knowing they can choose any career and being taught about equal opportunities. For girls of all ages, the decision about what they would like to do when they finished school was most heavily influenced by friends and families.

Many of the girls thought there could be discrimination if they worked in a male dominated occupation, and suggested they would like to visit a workplace and see a woman doing the job successfully before choosing it for themselves.

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, said:

'It is encouraging that most of the girls inspectors spoke with were open to the possibility of pursuing careers that challenge stereotypes. What is worrying is that all too often they follow courses and qualifications that don’t give them these opportunities in practice.

'Schools need to develop more opportunities for young women to meet professionals working in non-stereotypical roles, and to learn more about what the job entails through diverse work placements.

'Schools should also consider ways in which mentoring could be used more extensively to support young women in overcoming barriers to achievement.'

Only one of the schools visited had a clear programme to maximise the benefits of work experience. Students used a commercial programme to identify potential careers that cut across stereotypes. Work experience placements at the local hospital encouraged young women to consider medicine, and public services were promoted through courses in firefighting, along with hands on work experience at fire stations.

In the few examples where girls set out on an unfamiliar route, that had often come about after a personal experience. In one case, a Year 10 girl was determined to become a forensic scientist after watching a crime officer dealing with a burglary at her father’s shop. Following this, she went on to get work experience at a local crime laboratory.

Some of the schools engaged successfully with employers to provide work experience opportunities for girls that would tackle vocational gender stereotypes. One employer was working with the local college to provide apprenticeships for female plumbers and carpenters.

The most positive attitudes were found in the single-sex schools visited, where most of the girls spoken to asserted that they would definitely consider jobs stereotypically done by men.

Notes for Editors