Upper Secondary Science Enrollment Trends in Australia

Science Achievement of Girls in Single‐sex and Co‐educational Schools

“…Kelly (1981) suggests that concerned secondary science teachers are a potentially powerful force for change and improvements in girls' science education. Surely researchers and teachers cannot ignore the fact that 50% of secondary students (girls) opt out of science at an early age (Harding, 1981;Ormerod, 1981;Dekkers et al, 1986). The participation of girls in science will only increase as girls see themselves as successful in science.…”

“…The lack of women in the scientific professions can be traced back to the secondary school, where girls first appear to avoid choosing physical science subjects, as well as to the primary school and home (Harding, 1981;Ormerod, 1981). In Australia, research by Dekkers et al (1986) revealed that the number of females taking biology far outweighs males, while, for the physical sciences, male enrolments are twice those of female enrolments. Ormerod attributed this avoidance of the physical sciences to a variety of factors, including the tendency of boys to lead in group activities, girls' perception of lack of their own ability, girls' perception of the masculinity of science, and parental and teacher lack of encouragement of girls' participation in science and mathematics subjects.…”

Science laboratory skills among grade 9 students in Western Australia

“…Evidence of the declining participation rates in science and technology disciplines at the secondary and college levels has been irrefutable. For example, in the traditional secondary science courses such as physics and chemistry, the proportion of final-year high school students taking such courses has declined nationally over the past 10 years (Dekkers et al 1991). The situation has been mirrored at the college level; whereas total college enrolments have almost doubled over the past decade, enrolments in the physical and biological sciences have not kept pace with this overall increase.…”

The Renewal of Science Teachers’ Knowledge: a pilot professional development project

“…The Discipline Review in Mathematics and Science Teacher Education (Department of Employment, Education and Training, 1989), for example, demonstrates that physics teachers tend to be in short supply and to have relatively poor backgrounds in their discipline. In contrast to the situation in other science subjects, enrolments in upper secondary school physics are declining (Dekkers et al, 1991). Further, of the students who do enrol, many complete school physics courses without an adequate grasp of the basic concepts (Treagust & Zadnik, 1991).…”