Education, Training and Careers in Physics
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EDUCATION, TRAINING AND CAREERS IN PHYSICS FOR WOMEN IN MALAYSIA
KHALIJAH MOHD SALLEH AZNI ZAIN AHMED SAMIRAH ABDUL RAHMAN
MALAYSIA
IUPAP INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON WOMEN IN PHYSICS UNESCO PARIS, FRANCE
7-9 MAY 2002
organized by
INTERNATIONAL UNION OF PURE AND APPLIED PHYSICS (IUPAP) Women in Malaysia
Population (1995)
Female Male 49% 51%
Employed Persons by Gender (1996)
80
60
% 40
20
0 Male Female Women in Malaysia
Employment by Industry
Otrhers Construction6% 8%
Services Agriculture 43% 20%
Manufacturing 23%
Employment by Occupation and Gender (1995)
45 40 35 30 25 Male % 20 Female 15 10 5 0 l l s s l l a a e e a a r s l c i c r i n u r i a t r e o l e v r i e S r u l g s u e c a C s o i n S r e b f a g a o l / A M r n P o i t c u d o r P Occupation
Source : MIMOS. MIMOSMIND: Mindmapping the Future. Empowering Women Through ICT. (12) Jan. 2001 Physics Education
Number of Students Who Passed the Fifth Form National Examinations in Physics
50000
40000 r e 30000 b m u 20000 N 10000
0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Year
Males Females
Girls' Percentage of Grade A in Fifth Form National Examinations in Science Subjects
30 Biology 25 Chemistry 20 Mathematics
% 15 Additional Maths 10 Physics 5 Eng Drawing 0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Year Physics Education
Percentage Grade A in Fifth Form National Examination in Physics
20
15 e g a t n
e 10 c r e P 5
0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Year
Male Female Enrolment in Government and Government assisted Educational Institutions by Level of Education
100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% l y y e y y y h h t h h y a t r r t r i t t g g e r r r r x a a a n x e s x x e r o e c a i i i i r e s e l e l c c d d d o e s t s l n d S i S e S S t p p o p t n r
n n n t n p e r o n r v r r p r r p i n p e a e i o A o o p i i o A C e A e c e e h c U U c U c c n c U c c p p S c e e e o w w U S e S p e p S S S V o o S T U U L L
Males Females
Difficulty Level of Physics Among Non Physics Option Teachers
3.3 3.1 y
t 2.9 l u
c 2.7 i f Males f i 2.5 D
f Females o 2.3 l
e Total
v 2.1 e
L 1.9 1.7 1.5 t r y t s s t s s m t y s s n l a i n c c a c s c g e i i e i e i a c i e t e r t i l i t v n r a r e m c e m H m p a o t e n n u a r y n t e m c t O o r n g g W a E e N e r c r l u a y i n e M e i s l v & E D m
n a n K E o s e E r E t m M c o t e l A E
Women Physics Graduates BSc (Physics) Graduates
120
100
80 R
E Male B 60 M Female U
N 40
20
0 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 YEAR
MSc (Physics) Graduates
25
20
R 15 E Male B
M Female U 10 N
5
0 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 YEAR
Women Physics Graduates PhD(Physics) Graduates
10 9 8 7
R 6 E Male B 5 M Female U 4 N 3 2 1 0 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 YEAR
Percentage of Graduates by Gender
90 80 70 s e 60 t a u 50 d a r
G 40 f o 30 % 20 10 0 BSC MSC PHD Degree
Male Female
Careers in Physics Women Physics Graduates In Research Institutions
14 s c i
s 12 y h P
10 n s
e e Researchers t 8 m a
o u Executives d W a
6
f r Managers o G
r 4 e b
m 2 u
N 0 SIRIM MINT NSC FRIM MEC Research Institution
Percentages Of Women Physics Graduates In Research Institutions 16 14 e 12 g % of Research a
t 10 Workforce n
e 8 c % of Total r 6 e Workforce. P 4 2 0 SIRIM MINT NSC FRIM MEC Research Institutions
\
Careers in Physics Academic Qualifications Of Women Physics Graduates In Research Institutions
PhD 9%
MSc BSc 33% 58%
SUMMARY OF ISSUES At the secondary level, there is not much difference in physics performance between boys and girls. However the boys consistently outshine the girls among the top performers.
More boys than girls enter college and vocational institutions after secondary level. More girls enter university. However among the girls doing matriculation or pre-university programs, they are more inclined towards the arts stream than science.
Among all the science subjects at the Malaysian General Certificate Level (equivalent to O level), the girls perform best in mathematics and worst in engineering drawing and physics.
In general the male non option physics teachers as well as the boys find most of the physics topics except environment relatively less difficult than the female teachers and girls. Thus physics topics that relate directly to everyday life appear relatively easier for the females.
One possible cause of why the girls find physics more difficult than boys is that the girls appear not to be as imaginative as the boys in abstract ideas of physics.
Problems in physics education have been in existence for a long time and have not been resolved.
The enrolment of males in physics programmes is higher (two-thirds of total enrolment) than females in higher education (undergraduates and postgraduates). Overall the number of postgraduate students increased during the global economic crisis in 1998.
To have more girls in physics, the methodology of teaching physics have to be tailored to their needs.
The percentage of female graduates in physics that are attached to research institutions are about 5 % of the total workforce in research. Problems in physics education have not been solved in the last decade.) REFERENCES
1. Examination Board Ministry of Education Malaysia (SPM Physics and Grade A Girls). 2. Educational Planning and Reseach Division (Enrolment at various level) 3. Subhan T. Mohd Meerah, Lilia Halim, Khalijah Mohd Salleh, Ruhizan Mohd Yassin. 1999 - Teacher Training for Non Option Physics Teachers. IRPA Project 07-02-02-0046 (Difficult topics) 4. Sharifah Maimunah bte Syed Zain & Keith M Lewis (Ed). 1993. UNESCO, International Institute for Educational Planning and Educational Planning and Research Division, Ministry of Education, Malaysia.