An interesting study out that suggests that countries where there are more educational choices for women have fewer women in the sciences. The idea is that cultural stereotypes lead women to “choose” a course of study they think they might be good at, usually stereotypically female subjects. Here’s the take home message for me:

Rather than letting people take what they expect to love (or expect to be good at), educational systems should insist on more math and science for all students. As other research has repeatedly shown, choices made during adolescence are more likely to be made on the basis of gender stereotypes, so we should push off choice until later.

Even though the government won’t be implementing any kind of science and math requirements, that doesn’t mean that I can’t insist my own daughter continue math and science through high school.