Push for women in science

Press, 22 June 1989, Page 24

Push for women in science

PA Auckland Auckland University has begun a scheme to encourage more schoolgirls to opt for science subjects. The former head of computer studies at Papakura High School, Mrs Elizabeth Godfrey, has been appointed a liaison officer by the university to work with schoolgirls and women at university. Her job will be to increase the number of women taking physical science and engineering courses at Auckland. At present only 8 per cent of engineering students and 35 per cent of science students are

women,'compared with 47 per cent in the university as a whole. Particular attention will be given to telling Form 4 pupils about the value of science because it is often at that stage that girls opt out of those subjects. Mrs Godfrey said the small number of women in engineering and science showed that equal opportunity had not lead to equal participation. “In this increasingly technological society young women need to have a wide range of career opportunities and the knowledge to provide a woman’s perspective in the areas of scientific debate or decision-making.”