A host of studies confirm that as girls progress through the educational system, their achievement and enrollment in science courses decline relative to that of boys. At age nine, girls and boys perform about the same on science assessments, except in the physical sciences. By age 13, an achievement gap materializes in most science content areas, and by age 17, girls achieve at a significantly lower level than boys, especially in physics. Girls as a group also have developed more negative attitudes about science. By age 11, boys show a more positive view of science on interest surveys than girls do.
Girls tend to drop out of the science pipeline earlier than boys.
Parent and societal attitudes, adult examples, and deep-seated myths about the respective proficiencies of girls and boys are just some of the factors that shape girls' attitudes about science. The winnowing that occurs in high school means that fewer females than males are adequately prepared for college science or for scientific and technical careers. Labor market statistics bear this out. In 1986, only 13 percent of employed scientists, mathematicians and engineers were women, although women made up 49 percent of all professional workers. This underrepresentation of females in science represents a serious drain on the talent pool for critical scientific and technical jobs.