(Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)
On a point of order, Mr Speaker. Yesterday, in evidence to the Select Committee on Science and Technology, the chair of the Government’s Social Mobility Commission said that
“physics isn’t something that girls tend to fancy. They don’t want to do it, they don’t like it…I just think they don’t like it. There’s a lot of hard maths…The research generally…just says that’s a natural thing”.
She said she was
“certainly not out there campaigning”
for more girls to do physics, adding:
“I don’t mind that there’s only 16%”.
That contradicts the lived experience of many girls and women who love maths, such as myself, and research from many organisations and institutions such as the Institute of Physics, the all-party group on diversity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering and maths, which I chair, and, most importantly, the Government’s own stated policy on encouraging girls in STEM. Can you, Mr Speaker, advise me: given that we are proroguing today I cannot lay any written questions, so how can I ascertain whether the Government have changed their policy on encouraging girls into STEM?
HANSARD
Parliament TV:
https://twitter.com/ChiOnwurah/status/1519655269306974208?cxt=HHwWgIC-wc-a85YqAAAA
Just a note to say I was very impressed by your radio 4 life scientific interview. My daughter tells me she is not going to follow me into medicine but I can see an engineers brain forming like her late grandfather.
I note you highlighting Dame Martina comment on girls and physics. Please could you send me the exact segment of words used in the committee or link so I can write to our MP and her to highlight the bias and limited breadth of her thinking.
Thank you for your kind message.
Chi doesn’t use this websites for communication as she believes it is not secure enough.
Please email her on chi.onwurah.mp@parliament.uk