LettersAre Chinese schools failing girls with a head for science?

In my primary school in China, a first-grader could take a “hands-on” course. On the first day of class, the teacher told all the boys to go to the robotics classroom and all the girls to the greenhouse. After two lessons in gardening, I found the class really boring. So I asked the robotics teacher if I could join them but he told me that the robotics class was only open to boys at the time.

Though I had to return to my greenhouse, my passion for robotics grew stronger every day. So, one day before the class started, I went to the robotics classroom and just sat there. This time my robotics teacher did not say anything. I became a student in the robotics class and even won second place in a robot-running competition.

I believe that many other girls in my class would also have acquired the ability to build a robot, but what kept them from pursuing their interest was the outdated view of school administrators, insisting that girls were inferior to boys in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

Studies have shown that girls can perform just as well as boys in STEM courses. A study conducted by Rose O’Dea, a PhD student at Australia’s University of New South Wales, suggests that the top 10 per cent in any STEM class is, on average, equal parts male and female.

However, recent research has shown that young girls just beginning school tend to believe that boys are smarter and perform better in STEM classes. Why are girls so lacking in confidence in their intellectual abilities?

The unconscious bias of educators is one of the main reasons for this lack of confidence among girls in their STEM abilities. Teachers and parents in China often classify a girl as “hardworking” and a boy as “clever” when both receive good grades in an examination.