Not a single woman’s name features in the national curriculum for science, an education charity says – prompting calls for the government to act over a “lack of visible role models for girls”.
Teach First has launched the STEMinism camapign, calling to close gender gaps in science and maths careers.
It says no female scientists were mentioned in the GCSE science curriculum, while just two – DNA pioneer Rosalind Franklin and paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey – were referred to in three double science GCSE specifications from the major exam boards. In comparison, more than 40 male scientists or their discoveries were mentioned.
Meanwhile, a separate poll conducted by the charity revealed half of people are unable to name a single female scientist, alive or dead.

But it is not just Britain’s men who have made pioneering scientific discoveries. Read the report at www.bbc.com/news/uk-51399835 about some of the overlooked British women whose research changed the world.