Irish election: Ask 3 - Tackle the barriers in the education system
Too many young people are denied the rich and inspiring future that studying physics can offer because our struggling education system denies them the opportunity to pursue physics.
In particular, there is a significant and well-known problem with girls being underrepresented in physics – and the underrepresentation does not stop with girls.
Young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, disabled people, LGBT+ people, and those from some minority ethnic groups are all underrepresented in physics.
This matters. Choosing to do physics gives young people the tools to understand their world and shape their future. It is therefore vital that more young people from more diverse backgrounds are supported and encouraged to do physics.
More young people aren’t pursuing physics because too many children hear negative messages at school about it, about themselves, and about who can do the subject. Many schools (and therefore thousands of students) are without access to a specialist physics teacher, most often in disadvantaged areas.
To turn the tide and attract more young people from underrepresented backgrounds into physics, we must ensure all schools offer inclusive and equitable environments.
Children need to hear that they can be anything they want to be from a young age, and we need teachers to tell children they can do physics and not repeat outdated, discouraging cliches.
We’re therefore calling on the next government to promote the adoption of whole school equity plans in all nurseries and schools along with changes to teaching standards, teacher training and CPD, and school inspections.
An inclusive environment must be backed up by high quality specialist physics teaching in all schools. Children who don’t have access to a specialist physics teacher are less likely to study physics and related subjects post-15. To have any chance of closing this teacher gap over the next 10 years, we call on the next government to value physics teachers appropriately: urgently invest in recruiting, retraining and retaining the next generation of specialist physics teachers, including addressing the root causes (such as high workload) for teachers leaving the profession.