Orientations scientifiques des filles en France : un bilan contrasté

Abstract

Based on surveys carried out by the INSEE (Institut National de la Statistique et des études Economiques) and the DEPP (Direction de l’Evaluation de la Prospective et de la Performance), this article examines how the rate of girls choosing to study science in secondary and higher education in France evolved over a period of twenty years, from 1985 to 2008. The aim is to study continuity and change in girls’ choices into science. The findings of this study show that girls’ choices into science over the period clearly changed. There was a positive evolution at the secondary level but rather less obvious at higher education. The role of educational policies on girls’ scientific career choices, adolescents’ representations of occupations (Mosconi & Stevanovic, 2007), self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977 ; Betz & Hackett, 1981), stereotypes and perceptions (Armstrong & Crombi, 2000) and parental influence, will be studied to explain the links between the preconceptions of individual subjects according to gender and their choice of a scientific career.

Keywords

• science career
• gender
• educational policies
• stereotypes