Boys experiment with science, girls count on economics

This year's HKCEE results will confirm the theory that boys tend to opt for science subjects whereas girls prefer economics, literature and the arts, academics say.

Although the breakdown won't be available until November, educational psychologist Hau Kit-tai from the Chinese University of Hong Kong said he didn't expect to see a different pattern emerging from previous years because the gender divide was the result of 'social stereotyping'.

'Boys tend to opt for science subjects regardless of their ability partly due to social stereotypes, and there is no consensus yet on the extent to which they can be changed. Research shows girls tend to have higher verbal abilities than their male counterparts,' he said.

George Ngai Siu-keung, a lecturer at the Hong Kong Institute of Education's Department of Education Policy and Administration, agreed that the gender divide was unlikely to change because teachers 'didn't have the time' to help students explore other interests.

Physics was the most popular HKCEE choice among boys last year - more than 19,000 of the 32,820 students sitting the exam were male - whereas girls chose economics - 56 per cent of the subject's 40,821 candidates were female.

Traditionally, boys have also tended to dominate applied mathematics, technical drawing, chemistry, design and technology and electronics, whereas girls have shown a strong preference for literature and the arts. They made up almost 70 per cent of students sitting Chinese literature and 99 per cent taking English literature last year, broadly in line with the previous two years.