Science Degrees are cool/awesome/gucci

During a Diversity and Inclusion meeting today, a team member asked who had seen the article in today's Guardian on girls shunning A-level physics.  I hadn't seen it but, after the meeting ended, went to read it.  I was shocked, as well as infuriated, at what I read.  The article reports that a government commissioner has claimed that girls do not choose physics A-level because they dislike "hard maths". Unbelievable!  Many of the most courageous people I know - who take on huge challenges - are female.  

Whilst the article goes on to set out the backlash these comments have, in my view, quite rightly caused, particularly amongst the science community, it did get me thinking.  I don't believe for one second that girls choose not to take physics because it is "hard".  I suspect that the way physics is taught at times does not inspire and engage girls in the way it should and/or that the connection between physics and future careers is not well communicated.  Maybe the government commissioner, who is a teacher, should give this perspective more thought.  Maybe as an IP profession we also need to give more thought on how we communicate what we do, with our science backgrounds, to attract and retain more women?