Girls don’t take physics because they dislike hard maths, says tsar

GIRLS shun physics A-level because they ‘don’t like hard maths,’ the social mobility commissioner said yesterday.

The comments from Katharine Birbalsingh, once dubbed Britain’s ‘strictest headteacher’, upset scientists, who said they were ‘patronising’ and ‘damaging’.

It comes amid an ongoing debate about how to encourage more girls to take science subjects.

Addressing a science and technology committee inquiry, Miss Birbalsingh said fewer girls chose physics because it isn’t something they ‘tend to fancy’. She added: ‘There’s a lot of hard maths in there that I think they would rather not do.’

Dame Athene Donald, a professor of experimental physics and master of Churchill College, Cambridge, told The Guardian the comments were ‘terrifying’ and ‘damaging’.

Dr Jess Wade, a physicist at Imperial College London, said: I honestly can’t believe we’re still having this conversation. It’s patronising, it’s infuriating.’