Why are girls in France flunking maths and how can the equation be changed?
Girls in France are performing worse overall in maths and science than boys and they're far less likely to go on to careers in the elite fields of mathematics and physics. And yet recent research shows that deep-rooted gender stereotyping, not ineptitude, is to blame.
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Maths is a highly valued subject in France, which has succeeded in creating a maths elite. The country has won 13 Fields Medals since the prestigious prize was created in 1936, second only to the United States.
All 13 French medals were won by men.
Maths is a particularly male-dominated field and the higher up you go, the more gender imbalanced it gets.
Women make up around 12 percent of computer scientists in France, down from 35 percent in 1982, and less than 15 percent of mathematicians.
This comes as little surprise since 50 percent of girls drop maths in their last year of high school, compared to just one in four boys.
'Not for girls'
"All their life, even when they're very young, girls are being told that mathematics and science is not for them, it's for boys," says mathematician Colette Guillopé. "But it's not innate, it's all cultural."
Now retired but still active as both an emerita professor and member of the Women and Mathematics society, Guillopé was educated in an all-girls school in the 1960s – so grew up thinking that, on the contrary, maths was for girls.
Entering higher education was an eye-opener.
"I was in a competitive programme, there were mainly boys in the class. I knew how girls would do maths but I couldn't believe that boys could do it too," she says wryly over a coffee in her home town of Palaiseau, south of Paris.
"Now, in mixed schools, public or private, girls believe they just can't do maths."
Listen to a conversation with Colette Guillopé on the Spotlight in France podcast:
Learned roles
The belief that maths is somehow "not for them" sets in early in France. A recent study showed that while girls and boys have a similar level when they begin primary school aged five or six, within a few months girls start slipping behind.
"Girls and boys learn gender roles extremely quickly", both in the family and then at school, says sociologist Clémence Perronnet. She highlights another study, this time from the US, showing children around the age of six start to say that girls are less intelligent than boys.
She points to a "gendered division of the sciences", with maths and physics seen as sciences of the mind requiring more abstract thinking, while medicine, biology and other life sciences are linked to the caring professions.
"We tend to teach girls that they should focus on taking care of others, and anchor more abstract thinking and more intellectual activities in boys," says Perronnet, whose lengthy research into gender equality and science appears in the book "Matheuses: Les filles, avenir des mathématiques" (Girls, future of maths).
But early gender stereotyping doesn't mean girls are unable to close the gap. On the contrary, those who continue with maths into higher education often perform better than their male counterparts.
The problem, Perronnet says, is that even when boys and girls perform equally well, it's not perceived in the same way.
"For girls, good results are seen as the consequence of hard work whereas boys' results are seen as the consequence of some kind of genius, rapidity and logical thinking."
It means that even high-performing girls are less likely to go on and study through to a high level.
"It shapes aspirations. When your success is not described as genius, intelligence or high capacity you don't really see yourself going into this kind of education later on."
Hostile space
Girls may end up losing confidence in their ability to do maths, but Perronnet says there's nothing inevitable, let alone natural, about this.
"Lack of self-esteem, of self-confidence, is never the cause, it's always the consequence of what happens to girls in schools and in society more widely," she says.
"So we have to stop blaming the girls... It's not the girls we have to change, it's the context," she insists.
Gender bias exists even within the field of mathematics itself, says Guilloné, who chose applied rather than fundamental mathematics.
"I thought there would be more room for me because it was a new discipline in France in the late '70s. I could see that fundamental mathematics was blocked. And professors, who were all male, would actively encourage us as women to go there."
She did well and still enjoys going into the lab, but says it's a battle for women to advance in such a male-dominated field.
"It's very tough being a woman in a place where there are very few women. There are a lot of male chauvinists around, a lot of sexism, and sexual harassment. I was a victim of that."
Changing the equation
Perronnet says France has to tackle sexist and sexual violence head on if more girls are to continue in maths and science.
"About 10 percent of high school girls experience sexual aggression and the more they go into science, the more they're exposed to violence," she points out.
"In prestigious universities like Polytechnique or Centrale, 25 percent say they have experienced sexual agression, and a study last year showed half of female researchers have been sexually harassed in the workplace."
Some of Perronnet's research was conducted in single-sex maths workshops, where girls were able to speak more freely.
But she points out: "Single-sex settings work because they provide safe spaces where girls can study and work together, but they don't provide long-term solutions because they don't create more gender equality."
The sociologist gives conferences on gender bias in science, helping teachers become aware that their behaviour in the classroom may be problematic.
For the many, not the few
If girls are to project themselves more readily as future mathematicians and scientists, they also need more role models.
The recent film "Marguerite's Theorem" featuring a brilliant young female mathematician – the only girl in a class of boys – is one of very few in the genre.
As a member of the Women and Maths group, Guilloné is involved in organising regular workshops for middle- and high-school girls "to show them about maths, about stereotypes, and also that maths can be fun".
Both Guilloné and Pérronnet agree that real change will only come by improving engagement with maths across the board – not by encouraging only the exceptional students.
"Do you want to select a very small number of people and bring them to the top or do you want good and fair education for as many children and students as you can?" asks Perronnet.
"It's an important political choice and for now it's made in favour of picking a few researchers, mainly privileged, white men, to make their elite mathematicians."
It's like in football, says Guilloné. "If you want good players, competitive at an exceptional level, you need a lot of football players. It's the same for maths. You need a big pool – of boys and girls."
Listen to more on this story on the Spotlight in France podcast, episode 106.
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