Tomorrow the local papers will be carrying photos of deleriously happy students jumping for joy at their A-level results.
And once again girls will probably have outperformed boys. This will lead some to question if not to lament the oft-discussed ‘glass ceiling’ experienced by women.

Perhaps a better question might be, “Why is there such a dearth of girls studying any subjects requiring the high level numeracy skills so useful in many of the top jobs?”
Or perhaps more broadly – why do we so frequently  give air time to celebrities proudly announcing ,”I was they were always hopeless at maths”  in a way that they wouldn’t dream of announcing they were always illiterate!  Both are equally problematic in a high-functioning society!

Indeed it might be reasonable to ask to what extent women , from very early on in their education, contribute to reduced prospects of top jobs by their choice of A-level  and university subjects?  At the very least it’s a question we should not shy away from?   If you wanted to be a medic you wouldn’t study English and drama!  There may well be discrimation at work for those top jobs but surely having more women with the relevant qualifications can only work in favour of a higher percentage of women getting onto boards?

Click to enlarge  Graph from Joint Council for Qualifications 2016