Women & Science 3rd International Conference on Hands-on Science © 2006 H-Sci ISBN 989 9509 50 7 After the presentation of the best-practice 1. Introduction projects we will discuss their approaches and results. There are possibly contributions and The choice of an occupation or career is an experiences from other countries working with important decision for every school Ie aver. At the mentioned age groups. We are interested in the end of compulsory schooling, students decide getting information about their proceedings and whether they want to start working or further previous results. their education. Vocational choice is the Last but not least, we would like to set up outcome of a synthesis of factors. This study criteria for improving teaching methods with focuses on the role of science education m regards to gender aspects. influencing the choice of a science career. Keywords. Gender, Hands-on Science. The total number of students at the University of Malta and the number of undergraduate students following science courses have Gender Preferences and Science increased by 34% from 1995 to 2003. According Career Choice to the Labour Force survey, (March 2001), graduate employees in science related Claire Micallef1 and Suzanne Gatt2 professions make up 12% of the total number of 1 St. Monica School Gzira, Malta. professional employees in Malta. Moreover, 2 Department of Primary Education, Faculty compared to other countries, (Science and of Education, University of Malta. Malta. Engineering Indicators, 2002), Malta ranks
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