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Survey finds less than 10% of placements are ‘unconventional’, with majority in education, hair and beauty, office and shops Mixed-sex schools are not doing enough to promote girls’ confidence and ambitions, according to an Ofsted survey, which finds that work placements for young women are almost all in “stereotypically female” occupations such as hair salons. Single-sex schools say they find it easier to promote confidence and a competitive attitude in the absence of boys, but inspectors found that even in these schools the pattern of entries for GCSE and A-level subjects conformed with the national picture of girls’ choices. In all the schools Ofsted visited, girls mainly chose courses such as dance, art, textiles, and health and social care. While there is a widening gap between girls and boys’ performance at GCSE – last summer 72.6% of girls passed at A* to C, compared with 65.4% of boys – this has not translated into advantages in careers or pay. Christine Gilbert, chief inspector of schools, said: “It is encouraging that most of the girls inspectors spoke with were open to the possibility of pursuing careers that challenge stereotypes. What is worrying is that they all too often follow courses and qualifications that don’t give them these opportunities in practice.” Ofsted’s survey finds that schools are not using work experience to challenge gender stereotypes. Out of more than 1,700 examples of work placements, less than a tenth were “unconventional”, while the vast majority were in education, hair and beauty, offices and shops. In the few examples where girls set out on an unfamiliar route, this had often come about after a personal experience. In one case, a girl in the first year of GCSE studies was determined to become a forensic scientist after watching a crime officer dealing with a burglary at her father’s shop. The most positive attitudes were found in single-sex schools, where most of the girls said they would definitely consider jobs stereotypically done by men. In selective schools, girls did not view any career as being closed to them, as long as they worked hard and got the relevant qualifications. They felt that more women should be encouraged into roles traditionally done by men. However, this confident thinking was not matched by any noticeable shift away from gender-typical course or career choices. “Almost all of these girls told inspectors that they were not planning to pursue such a route for themselves,” the report says. esceInspectors found that careers education for pupils aged 11-14 was “generally weak”, which made informed choices about courses and careers difficult. Explicit teaching about career breaks, the impact of raising a family and how careers develop through promotion was rare in all the schools visited for the survey. Little information about starting salaries, promotion prospects and earning potential was available, and girls had no clear idea what these might be. “This was a major shortfall in the information available to young people making choices in these schools, irrespective of gender,” the report says. A report commissioned by the last government found that women are “crowded into a narrow range of lower-paying occupations, mainly those available part-time”, though there is some evidence that young women are now earning more than young men. In the last decade, girls have become more likely to pick certain A-level subjects, such as maths or technology, which have been male-dominated. But the proportion of girls taking physics has fallen slightly, from 23% in 2000 to 21% in 2010. More girls than boys do biology A-level, while chemistry is close to being evenly balanced. Course choices were overwhelmingly gender-stereotypical in all the 10 further education colleges Ofsted visited. Construction, motor vehicle and engineering departments remained predominantly male. Areas such as health, social care, childcare, hairdressing and beauty therapy remained primarily the choice of female students. Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “Employers have a key role to play in challenging gender stereotypes in the workplace, by encouraging girls to take on work placements in male-dominated fields and providing female role models. “Schools and colleges want to provide relevant, worthwhile work-based learning, but they are dependent on local businesses agreeing to take on students. Companies must do more to support schools and colleges in making high-quality work placements available.” The single-sex girls’ schools visited had various approaches to challenging stereotypical choices, including the use of positive female role models and successful former students returning to the school to share experiences of work. “Schools need to develop more opportunities for young women to meet professionals working in non-stereotypical roles, and to learn more about what the job entails through diverse work placements.” Careers Schools Ofsted Equality Secondary schools GCSEs A-levels Jeevan Vasagar guardian.co.uk