British children don't want to be scientists because "they never make a living"; In the description of the character of the scientist, not a single woman appeared; Children of color didn't think a scientist could be black or Asian
In the next generation Britain may find itself with a severe shortage of scientists. Reason: eight-year-old children said that they do not want to become scientists because they think they are "middle-aged men who never make a living", so the teachers of the future non-scientists said.
The study included about 5,000 eight- to nine-year-old children in Great Britain and Australia. When the children were asked to describe the character of the scientist, the following character came up: a white man, with a strange face or hair, wearing glasses and a white robe.
The boys did not describe a single case in which the scientist was a female scientist, and only a tiny minority from childhood imagined such an incredible possibility. Another finding: even children of Asian or black origin did not describe a scientist of such origin.
The image of the "crazy professor" that appears again and again in TV series and movies does not help either. Researchers at the University of Leicester in the UK are now trying to find methods that teachers will use to counter children's negative view of the world of science. "If you want to interest children in science, you have to catch them before the age of 11," said Dr. Jarvis, from the Center for Science Teaching in Great Britain. "If the child does not enjoy science before this age - he will never enjoy it again. In high school there is no longer a chance for science," said Dr. Gervis.
One of the ways she suggests to interest the children is a combination of science fiction books and writing stories about scientific topics. The materials are also translated into East Asian languages such as Punjabi, Yordu, Gujarati and Bengali, to encourage immigrant children to be interested in science.
