The UK government has announced plans to increase the number of girls studying advanced maths to enable them to progress into AI-related careers.
Just a third of A level maths pupils are girls, while only 22 per cent of professionals working in AI-related roles like software engineering or data science are women.
The government said it has earmarked £8.2 million to improve participation and teaching of advanced maths for around 7,500 girls.
The funding, which is part of the advanced maths support programme, will help pupils from around 400 disadvantaged secondary schools.
The government said the move will break the link between background and success, allowing these students to have the chance to progress.
The advanced maths support programme includes pilot teacher training and student enrichment courses on the key maths concepts and skills needed for AI.
The government said this will benefit 450 students and 360 teachers from next September.
The move, which forms part of the government’s AI Action plan, aims to create a “talent pipeline” as well as drive greater diversity across the AI talent pool.
“AI is the defining technology of our generation, improving our public services, sparking fresh economic growth, and unlocking the jobs of the future,” said science secretary Peter Kyle. “We can only harness that potential if we have a pipeline of talent equipped with the skills they need for the jobs of tomorrow.”
In June last year, a report by King’s College London found that the number of girls studying computing at GSCE level has more than halved since 2015 and this could lead to the continued “male-dominance of the digital space”, harming UK’s aim to be a tech superpower.
In 2014, the curriculum was changed to focus on computer theory and programming skills the authors of the report said that this had made the topics narrower and called on the government to take action and address the problem.
