Three key themes emerging from our research 83% A close analysis of the findings from our study reveals three key themes – each with major implications for future efforts to close the gender gap in technology. of males are studying STEM subjects at school compared to 64% of females “I chose not to pick a science-based subject 1 as I feel that is not my strong point. Although I did well at science when doing my GCSEs I acknowledged that it becomes increasingly Girls are less likely to study STEM difficult at A-Level, which is why I chose subjects at school – and this gap other subjects.” continues through to university Female pre-university student Our research confirms that the gender bias starts in school and carries on through every stage of girls’ and women’s lives. Both before university and at university, more boys than girls participating in our research are studying all STEM subjects with the exception of biology. Overall, 83% of males are studying STEM subjects at school, compared to 64% of females. This breaks down to 17% of the males studying physics, compared to 7% of females. The corresponding breakdown for maths is 28% male and 20% female. A similar divergence emerges at university, where over half (52%) of males are studying a STEM subject, compared to only 30% of females. The biggest gap is in engineering – a subject being studied by 13% of male university students we surveyed and only 2% of females. Maths is being studied by 6% of males and 4% of females. For female students, chemistry and maths show the biggest drop-off between A-levels and university, whereas for males the biggest drop-offs are in biology and maths. 5 PwC