More students studying religion than physics for the HSC
Well this came as a surprise to me: There are more students sitting the HSC for ‘Studies of Religion’ than there are students studying chemistry or physics. I find that horrifying, I really do. For that matter it’s not filling me with joy to see more people sitting for Physical Education.And then there’s the Maths figures. I’ve nothing against the other courses but I would dearly love to see all students go forth into the world with an understanding of maths and hard science.
Here are the top 15 subjects in order of enrollment:
Subject | Unique enrolments |
---|---|
1. English |
70,432 |
2. Mathematics |
57,989 |
3. Biology |
18,010 |
4. Business Studies |
17,557 |
5. Personal Development, Health and Physical Education |
16,763 |
6. Studies of Religion |
15,511 |
7. Modern History |
10,978 |
8. Chemistry |
10,736 |
9. Legal Studies |
10,565 |
10. Ancient History |
10,112 |
11. Visual Arts |
9330 |
12. Physics |
9296 |
13. Community and Family Studies |
8353 |
14. Hospitality |
7595 |
15. Senior Science |
7486 |
Even though this year sees a record number of students sitting the HSC, there are fewer students sitting maths than last year. Last year 58,184 students sat HSC maths (out of 76,679), this year it’s 57,989 (out of 77,163). That’s not a good thing.
For yet another year biology is the only science with a significant level of enrollment. It’s not clear to me why that is; although there is a lot of literature pointing out that a great many girls choose to do biology. According a University of Sydney study from 2015: “More than one-third of ATAR-eligible girls take biology. Only 16 percent now take a science subject other than biology.” I’m really not sure how to parse this but I fear that as some schools and universities require a science course, people are choosing biology because it’s seen as the easier choice and one that doesn’t require maths.
So there are more girls than boys sitting the HSC this year. Yet there are significantly more boys doing maths than girls, especially in the extension subjects.
Mathematics General 2 | Units | Male | % | Female | % | Total |
Mathematics | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mathematics General 2 | 2 | 16271 | 50 | 16206 | 50 | 32477 |
Mathematics | 2 | 8892 | 54 | 7622 | 46 | 16514 |
Mathematics Extension 1 | 2 | 5206 | 59 | 3666 | 41 | 8872 |
Mathematics Extension 2 | 2 | 2113 | 64 | 1170 | 36 | 3283 |
Mathematics General 1* | 2 | 2616 | 63 | 1530 | 37 | 4146 |
Science | ||||||
Biology | 2 | 6972 | 39 | 11038 | 61 | 18010 |
Chemistry | 2 | 5958 | 56 | 4778 | 45 | 10736 |
Earth and Environmental Science | 2 | 912 | 56 | 705 | 44 | 1617 |
Physics | 2 | 7272 | 78 | 2024 | 22 | 9296 |
Senior Science | 2 | 3699 | 54 | 3121 | 46 | 6820 |
In physics, in particular, the number of boys dong the subject dwarfs the number of girls. Look, this is a worry as an issue between the genders, but it’s also a worry because it’s possible that the declining numbers of people doing maths, physics and chemistry is linked in some way. These figures ought to be a serious concern for us all.
Anyway, the little cynic who sits at the back of my brain is screaming that we’re producing a bunch of really fit people who know stuff about gods but aren’t quite sure why satellites stay in orbit.
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