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The low numbers of girls choosing to take A-level physics is a continuing cause for concern. It means that girls who would enjoy and excel at A-level physics are being denied the opportunity because their experience of physics up to age 16 is not as encouraging or positive as it should be. Girls and boys do equally well at GCSE-level physics and science/additional science (previously double-award science). However, the percentage of A-level physics students who are girls has stayed at around 20% for the past 20 years or more. To address this problem, the Institute commissioned two pieces of research in 2004. The Review of the Research into the Participation of Girls in Physics (Murphy and Whitelegg 2006) aimed to consolidate current understanding of the problem and to identify reasons from existing research into why girls choose not to continue studying physics post-16. In addition, A Teacher’s Guide to Action (Hollins et al. 2006) included evidence from a study of schools that were particularly successful at encouraging girls to continue with physics post-16.
The main influences on students’ attitudes to physics were found to be:
● self-concept – that is students’ sense of themselves in relation to the subject;
● how students experience physics at school;
● teacher–student relationships – that is, how personally supportive students find their physics teacher.
The Institute, in partnership with the National Network of Science Learning Centres, worked on action-research projects with a number of very engaged teachers and their classes. However, evidence from the report Two years on: A review of the Girls into Physics action-research projects (Laura Grant et al. 2011, unpublished) showed that success is difficult to sustain unless the interventions go beyond the individual teachers and become part of a department or school-wide programme.
In this report we have taken a different approach. Using data from the National Pupil Database, which tracks pupils as they go through school, we have looked for differences in the patterns of choice of A-level physics for girls and boys in different types of schools. We have used data on pupils doing A-levels in England in 2011 tracked back to the school where the pupils were taught for their GCSEs in 2009.

Italy is often considered a fortunate country for women in physics. Indeed, the number of women among students in higher education and in the early stages of careers is relatively high, certainly much higher than in most other countries worldwide. However, the percentage of women among physicists decreases very rapidly with increasing level in the profession; also, the presence of women in positions of power is generally negligible. Undergraduate courses in physics in Italy are now well attended by women, who are generally very successful in their studies. In this report we summarize some representative data and discuss breifly some possible explanations and the proposed focus for future actions.

The number of women is less than the number of men in degrees like physics and engineering. In this paper we present the percentages of female students at the Spanish Universities. The percentage of women decreases for faculty members. We also give some figures for female students in physics degree. The value of mentoring programs is analyzed. The learning societies in physics and in optics have established committees and programs for helping the women in their scientific career. We describe them in general and we focus on the SPIE Women in Optics program.

In the vast majority of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), there are well-described differences between women and men in epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, effects of therapy, and outcomes. These differences arise on one hand from biological differences among women and men, which are called sex differences. They are due to differences in gene expression from the sex chromosomes and subsequent differences in sexual hormones leading to differences in gene expression and function in the CV system, e.g. in vascular function and NO signalling, in myocardial remodelling under stress, or metabolism of drugs by sex-specific cytochrome expression. Sex differences are frequently reproducible in animal models. In contrast, gender differences are unique to the human. They arise from sociocultural processes, such as different behaviours of women and men; exposure to specific influences of the environment; different forms of nutrition, lifestyle, or stress; or attitudes towards treatments and prevention. These are equally important for CVDs.

In its current research framework programme ‘Horizon 2020’, the EU calls for the inclusion of the gender dimension into biomedical research since ‘it helps improve the scientific quality and societal relevance of the produced knowledge, technology and/or innovation’ (http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/promoting-ge...).