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Launching yet another campaign earlier this month to attract more students into studying science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem), chancellor George Osborne said: "Only two percent of girls are taking physics A-level. That is not good enough".
He went on to suggest that more female role models or television presenters might help address the situation.
I am one of those role models. I'm female and I work in a university teaching chemistry and doing Stem outreach. I don't feel like I've experienced sexism during my time studying or working in Stem, but this is obviously a problem for others. I decided to find out more, and that's when I realised George Osborne is wrong.
Despite some recent signs that things might be changing, the low number of women teaching or studying Stem in higher education has been an issue for many years. It's not just physics – chemistry, engineering, maths and computing are also struggling.
Attempts to attract girls into science have often tried to persuade them that being a scientist is compatible with wearing lipstick and high heels - an approach epitomised by a European Commission video (since withdrawn) to promote its Science - it's a girl thing! campaign.
There aren't many female faces in television who could be considered Stem role models. So would more of them help attract girls into science? Studies published in 2013 by Diana E. Betz and Denise Sekaquaptewa looked at the impact of different types of female role models on girls' opinion of their own ability to succeed at a Stem subject.
They found that typically feminine Stem role models not only decreased girls' interest in Stem subjects, but also decreased their belief in their own ability to succeed at those subjects – and the likelihood of studying them.
"Rather than opening these girls' minds to new possibilities, the feminine Stem role model seemed to shut them further," Sekaquaptewa says.
I can sympathise with these students. Rachel Riley, the mathematician who appears on Countdown, is a great Stem ambassador, but even someone like me, with a first degree and PhD in chemistry, feels like a failure in comparison to her, because she is slim and pretty – and I'm not.
Girls are strongly influenced by the pressure to be attractive, and asking girls to be smart while society expects them to be beautiful makes them feel like they are being asked for too much.
Public perception is negative
So if role models aren't the answer, then what is? The other factor in this is basic and instinctive: fear. I have done a great deal of chemistry outreach where the first response to finding out what I do is: "Oh, chemistry, I was terrible at that at school". The public view of my Stem subject is almost entirely negative.
How on earth are parents supposed to support a child to do the subject when they had such a negative memory of the experience themselves?
Coupled with the parental fear that their child will somehow not get high enough grades to guarantee them a job and a comfortable life, what motivation is there for parents to encourage young people to do difficult Stem subjects if they don't themselves have experience of them?
The view is widespread: one study found that school students think only the cleverest people can work in a Stem-related job.
My parents, an engineer and a linguist, were endlessly encouraging and had a lot of experience to share. I never felt like the subjects I picked at A-level (chemistry, biology and physics) were special in any way but it seems I am in the minority.
Stem workers need to be able to deal with failure
Stem subjects are hard. They require concentration, stamina and a decent dose of bloody-mindedness, but anyone willing to put in the time and effort has the potential to succeed.
You don't have to be a genius but you do need to be willing to get things wrong. Society needs to stop insulating young people from failure; it is an important part of learning and development, especially for scientists and engineers.
No one expects experiments to work all the time, and future Stem workers need to learn to deal with failure, adapt and move on – something which the overemphasis on grades and success doesn't cover.
In a sense, every woman who teaches science in a university or school, and who is encouraging students of both sexes to stretch themselves, is a Stem role model. Someone who shows that the practice of science is achievable by anyone willing to work hard.
I don't think the big calamity is that there are a low number of girls doing physics; I think it is the low number of students studying Stem. We as a nation are famous for being engineers, scientists and inventors and we have managed to scare our own children away from following our own path for the sake of good grades.
Let's get back to basics, celebrate the art of failing and trying again and concentrate less on grades and more on meaningful learning. Otherwise we risk losing our reputation and our way in a fast-developing world.
Julia Percival is a tutor in chemistry at the University of Surrey.
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