www.le.ac.uk

Using secondary data to examine inequalities in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and careers

Professor Emma SmithSchool of Education

‘Not for the first time our educational conscience has been stung by the thought that we are as a nation neglecting science’

Committee to Enquire into the Position of Natural Science in the Educational System of Great Britain, 1918.

‘Grave shortage of science teachers’

The Times, October 1955

‘University science places unfilled’

The Times, January 1970

‘Another issue with which we had to grapple was the lack of reliable data on the supply and demand of STEM graduates and postgraduates. This lack of data makes it very difficult to assess whether there is in fact a shortage of STEM graduates and postgraduates and in which sectors. This is critical because, if it is not known whether there is a shortage, remedial actions cannot be put in place’.

House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology (2012:6)

Sources of data 1

A-level participation and attainment, 1961-2012

JCQ data from 2001, prior to that DfE (etc) annual reports, QCA, AQA, Edexcel, IoP

Aggregate data, freely available

Population data for all entrants since 1961

All subjects, mainly disaggregated by sex

Participation in A-level physics

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

Male Female

Achievement gaps between male and female A-level physics candidates 1965-2009

1965

1966

1967

1968

1969

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1990

1991

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1995

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1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30Chart Title

Sources of data 2

UCAS data on applications and acceptances to HE, 1986-2012

Population data for all entrants (sampled prior to 1986)

Aggregate data, freely available from UCAS (2004-)

Subjects, social and educational characteristics etc.

Focus here on full-time, home domiciled

1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 20120

10

20

30

40

50

60

Physical sciences Biological sciences Engineering sciences All sciences

Acceptances to selected main science subject groups, as a proportion of all acceptances, 1986-2012

Sources of data 3

HESA Graduate first destination data 1994-2011

Activities six months after graduation

Data collection through survey administered through home HEI,

response rates around 80%

Some cost for access to data

HESA Graduate longitudinal data sets

3.5 year longitudinal survey but response rates around 20%

Main occupational groups, 2010/11

  ‘Graduate’ jobs

SOC 6-9 Unemployed

All graduates 62 27 9

Biology 48 39 11

Sports Science 50 42  7

Psychology 42 45  8

Chemistry 68 22  8

Physics 74 16 11

Engineering 87 15 13

Computing sciences 72 19 15

Languages 51 33 9

First destinations of Engineering Sciences graduates, 1994-2010/11

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100

20

40

60

80

100

In full-time employment Further study Unemployed

Proportion of first degree leavers who were unemployed 6 months after graduation, selected subjects 1994/5 to 2010/11

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Languages Engineering Computer science

Percentage of students entering ‘graduate’ type jobs, selected subject areas, 2002-2010

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Physical Sciences Languages Engineering Sciences

Biological Sciences Social Studies

Sources of data 4

1970 Birth Cohort Study

1958 National Child Development Study

Labour Force Survey

Conclusions 1• No evidence of gender gaps in attainment at A-level pure sciences

• Participation in HE undergraduate science programmes has kept pace with overall HE expansion

• But recruitment is not even across the sciences

• Social characteristics in particular have hardly varied

• Physical scientists are still largely white, middle class, high attaining, home-domiciled, traditional aged men.

Conclusions 2

• Initiatives to encourage greater uptake of the physical sciences have limited impact, at aggregate level

• Early career trajectories of engineering science students are relatively unchanged

• Further work is needed to examine the barriers and opportunities for entry into graduate STEM employment