Girls studying physics at post-secondary level in Malta

Abstract

All secondary level students in Malta study, at least, one science subject (Physics, Chemistry and/or Biology) up to school-leaving level. This is due to a pass in one science subject being compulsory for entry into general post-secondary education. On the other hand, Physics, rather than Chemistry or Biology, is compulsory in State Schools. This ensures that a large percentage of girls, in Malta, study Physics. Analysis of Physics exam results at school-leaving level, the Secondary Education Certificate (SEC), shows that there is little difference, if any, in performance between boys and girls in the overall grade. A specific study has shown that the only consistent difference obtained was in coursework, this favouring girls with a moderate effect size of 0.35 and 0.57 for two consecutive years. When one considers the number of students opting to study Physics at Advanced Level in post-secondary education, however, the number of boys is significantly larger than girls, even though more girls than boys follow general post-secondary education. It is argued that the image of careers requiring Physics at advanced level (Engineering and Architecture) are male-oriented and girls tend to opt for other career paths, even within the sciences. Possible influences regarding the choice of science subjects are looked into in order to try to understand better why, even though officially there is the same possible access for girls into Physics courses, this is not taken up. There is, therefore, a need to promote these courses with girls.