School recommendations disadvantage girls, and the tech sector

Prejudices still seem to determine the advice given at school. Girls are rated lower and are much less likely to be given the green light for a technical profession. This is detrimental to them, but also bad news for a society that urgently needs technical talent. “After so many years of the same research results, it's time to take real action,” says student Jazine ten Houten. She herself chose a technical field: Chemical Engineering at Fontys University of Applied Sciences.

Girls score just as well on the final exam as boys, but are still more often given a lower school recommendation. This is evident from recent research by DUO. In secondary education, they often make up for this false start themselves. Boys, on the other hand, are more likely to perform below their teachers' expectations.

Why this happens has not been investigated. The DUO report does mention a few possible causes: girls' intelligence is less readily recognized by parents and teachers, boys more often stand out from the rest, and the focus on math is at the expense of language, to the detriment of girls.

This is not the first study to show that girls are rated lower than boys. In 2018, for example, this was also evident from research conducted by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

No technical profession

It therefore seems that prejudice plays a role in the advice given by schools. Previous research has shown that this also applies to the direction children take: for example, whether or not they choose a technical profession. According to research by VHTO, the expertise center for gender diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), counselors and mentors are less likely to recommend a technical profile or profession to girls than to boys. This perpetuates typical male and female professions.

Here's how it works: the study discussed fictional scenarios. If the student was named Anouk, she was much less likely to receive positive advice than if the student was named Thomas – he was almost twice as likely to get the green light for a technical choice.

Jazine ten Houten

Initially, too low a recommendation

After high school, Jazine ten Houten chose a technical field of study. She finds it disappointing that girls are unjustly given lower recommendations than boys. “It is striking that the research results have been the same for years. You would expect more attention to be paid to changing this. Both boys and girls are disadvantaged by not being placed at the right level.”

Ten Houten's initial school recommendation was mavo, but after transferring to another primary school, it became havo/vwo. “But I noticed in secondary school that the initial recommendation made me very insecure, and I often thought that I should actually go to mavo.”

“Isn't that for boys?”

Ten Houten was also made to doubt the direction she chose. At first, she didn't know which way she wanted to go, but in the end, she chose the science profile. “That choice was immediately followed by comments such as: Isn't that mainly chosen by boys? And when I got an 8 in my final exam in mathematics B, my father was told: That's impressive. For a girl.”

However, the comments made little impression on Ten Houten. “I was lucky that my family knew what I was capable of. I come from a technical background. I was often taken to work and open days in the science field. As a result, technology always felt like an option to me.”

Tech sector needs women

Ten Houten thinks it's a shame that women are discouraged from entering the technical field. “Women are not encouraged to choose this field, even though the tech sector desperately needs them.” If we look at the figures, we see that staff shortages in technical organizations have been steadily increasing for a long time. Almost seven in ten companies (68%) indicate that they will face shortages in 2025.

A large-scale study

In short, it is high time for in-depth research, according to the student. “A large-scale study into what is going on and, above all, what changes are needed in the school system. After so many years of the same research results, it is now really time for action,” she concludes.