Unlock the editor’s summary for free
Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The emergence of the economy in English schools has made no difference in a persistent gender division among young people who pursue the issue, according to the investigation of the Bank of England that shows that boys remain twice that girls to study it at level A or university.
The Number of Students Sitting A-Level Economics Rose From 23,267 in 2012 to 37,251 in 2023, an increase of 60 per cento made made report presented.
The expansion has helped reduce the gap in the provision between private schools and financed by the State. Private school students remain overrepresented, but now they represent 21 percent of level A participants, compared to 30 percent in 2012.
But there have been no changes over time in the 70-30 division between boys and girls who choose the subject at all levels of study, from GCSE to university courses.
“It seems that we are not changing the dial,” said Carly Sandy, an education programs advisor in the BOEwhich is associated with the University of Manchester in a program to train existing teachers of other subjects to teach economy of level A.
The three -year program will be initially executed in the northwest of England, with 25 places open to qualified teachers in schools financed by the State, and will expand to offer 100 places throughout the United Kingdom in the third year.
The economy also remains much more popular in London and the southeast of England than in other parts of the country. The students of Indian, African and Chinese origins are more likely to study it than those of the British White Origins, the BOE said on Wednesday.
He imbalance In the flow of young people in the profession, those responsible for the formulation of policies because the economy titles offer some of the greatest financial yields of any issue, and economic research supports crucial policy decisions without their authors being necessarily representative of society.
Women are now more visible at the top of the profession, even in the BOE monetary policy committee, where five of the current nine members are women.
However, the Central Bank is still lagging behind its internal objectives for gender balance and minority ethnic representation in new appointments at the most senior levels.
Separate research by Discover the economyA campaign led by academics based in the United Kingdom, discovered that girls postponed when studying the issue at perceptions that it was “money and data analysis”, associated with mathematics, dominated by “intelligent, stubborn and competitive boys” and a route purely to a race in finance.
But BOE officials say that, in addition to addressing these perceptions, it is necessary to equip more schools to offer economy, given a shortage of existing teachers or new participants for teaching that seeks to specialize in the field.
The economy is currently offered at just over half of non -selective state schools in England, compared to 90 percent of selective schools and 82 percent of private schools. “We need to increase supply,” Sandy said.
