ABSTRACT
Girls' grammar schools may be particularly successful in encouraging girls to do physical sciences, only because they have always seen as desirable the kind of equality which insists that girls have identical educational opportunities at least in academic subjects. The aim in supporting girls' clubs as an intervention was to provide a space and time in which groups of girls could build up their familiarity with the workshop and its equipment and develop the confidence to step over the invisible 'gender' barrier when it came to option choice. The actual number of girls in the Girls into Science and Technology (GIST) cohort who participated directly in a single-sex club must have been very small. The exception is Moss Green school, where the largest number of single-sex activities took place. In the other schools, the longest-running club continued for two terms. The effect of clubs being abandoned for lack of support may have been more negative than positive.
