Mind the AI Gap
With the International Day of Women and Girls in Science having taken place recently, it’s time to confront an uncomfortable truth: AI is not only reshaping education, but also deepening gender and disadvantage gaps in STEM.
Without action, we risk locking out the next generation of girls and students living in historically underserved areas from the most lucrative and influential careers of the future.
The confidence gap starts early
As an Assistant Head Teacher at an all through school in Feltham, I see how gendered confidence gaps in STEM take root early. Research shows that girls are less confident in STEM subjects, despite outperforming boys in most STEM disciplines. A major factor is the lack of visible female role models in industry, making it harder for young girls to picture themselves in STEM careers.
We take early action to counteract this by holding careers focused events in Reception to Key Stage 2. Our Curriculum has dedicated careers days where we invite female leaders in STEM industries to come into our school and share information about their roles with our pupils.
STEM disadvantage is both a gender and economic challenge
This isn’t just a gender issue – it’s an economic one too. Pupils eligible for free school meals in the past six years are around half as likely to pursue post-16 STEM courses, meaning girls from these backgrounds face a double disadvantage.
This is a trend that we are also bucking in our sixth form with 75% of our Year 12 Chemistry and Biology class being female and an equal gender split in our A level Maths lessons. This, however, isn’t the norm and many of the female pupils studying STEM subjects at A level have been with us since primary, so are used to seeing women in positions of influence.
AI: A tool for progress or a driver of inequality?
The government has recently set out ambitions for AI, pledging that “artificial intelligence will be unleashed across the UK to deliver a decade of national renewal” – providing up to £47 billion to the economy each year.
Yet this vision cannot be realised whilst so much potential talent is being lost. If we are serious about making the UK a global AI leader, all young people must have the opportunity to develop the necessary skills. The disparity is glaring: those who can afford it gain early exposure to AI, while students in areas with high levels of urban poverty are left behind.
Unless we take action, AI will entrench existing inequalities rather than democratise opportunity.
Funding schools to build AI-ready futures
A key solution is increased school funding, particularly for historically underserved communities. Schools that are based in areas with high levels of urban poverty often provide much more than education – they support students with meals, uniforms, and hygiene equipment. With these needs, budgets are stretched thin.
The most effective way to increase funding would be through the pupil premium to provide the necessary investment for schools that need it most. After all, how can we also be expected to invest in AI-ready skills and facilities when we can barely afford staffing costs?
The need for more STEM teachers
Another key piece of the puzzle is attracting more STEM teachers to the profession, particularly in schools serving historically underserved areas.
I became a primary school teacher specialising in STEM because young girls need role models they can look up to. I trained through Teach First to work with children who need it most, and to contribute to their growing movement that is placing more and more STEM teachers in underprivileged schools. In the last year alone, more than one in three Teach First teachers specialised in a science subject, choosing to use their expertise where it can have the greatest impact. We’re incredibly proud that over 60% of our STEM teaching staff are also female.
Financial incentives to attract STEM talent
Our nation’s schools need more of us to serve as role models, especially for young girls from financially stretched backgrounds.
Top STEM talent currently stand the most to gain if they remain in industry jobs, whilst trainee STEM teachers could be earning as little as £22,000. If the government introduce stronger financial incentives - such as increased trainee salaries and bursaries for shortage subjects, along with well-funded schools - we could finally attract the talent necessary to change this feedback loop.
Bringing them on board is essential to creating the visibility and passion needed to help close both the disadvantage and gender gaps.
A call to action
If we fail to act, AI will become a force for widening inequality rather than bridging it.
Girls will continue to lack confidence in STEM subjects, cutting them off from the highest-paying careers. Disadvantaged students will lack the skills to compete in an AI-powered world, rendering the UK’s ambition to be an AI superpower meaningless if a significant proportion of our population is excluded from as early as primary school.
If we are truly committed to supporting women and girls in science - and closing the socio-economic gap in STEM - action must be taken now.
The future of AI cannot be built on wasted potential.