Countdown maths whizz Rachel Riley urges parents to ‘smash the gender stereotypes’

Countdown’s maths whizz Rachel Riley has urged parents to ‘smash the stereotypes’ and raise girls to believe they’re good enough for scientific careers. 

A recent study from New York University found that girls are four times less likely than boys to enrol in a maths-based subject at university, despite having a ‘higher degree of competence’ for those subjects while at school.    

Researchers studied data from almost 6,000 high school students over seven years – from the start of high school into college.

Rachel, 34, who recently gave birth to six-month-old Maven with her Strictly Come Dancing husband Pasha Kovalev, 40, is urging parents to tell their daughters they would be capable in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) jobs. 

In an article for The Sun, Rachel wrote: ‘When children are little, we coo at boys when they say they are ”the best” at something, but if a girl says the same, she’s told, ”Don’t be boastful”. 

‘Instead, girls get their praise for being nice and kind. When we’re told these things from a young age, we start believing them.’ 

Rachel went on to explain that she wants her daughter to grow up feeling equal to her male peers and noted that the study found that the problem is with societies stereotypes, rather than the ability of girls. 

She thinks the reason there is a gender gap in STEM careers is because children are told that men’s brains are suited to careers in science and maths while women are better suited to caring and creative roles. 

Rachel added that girls start believing that ‘brilliance’ is a male trait from the age of six.  

She believes that this plays into a ‘gender confidence gap’ – where women’s confidence is affected by external factors and they are more likely to underestimate their abilities and be put off challenging career paths. 

Rachel also believes the stereotype that declares scientists are pragmatic and robotic is dangerous to young girls because it ‘subtly’ tells them they aren’t suited to those jobs because of their supposed ‘caring’ and ‘creative’ qualities. 

She notes that this doesn’t take into account the fact that engineers are ‘some of the most creative people around’ and have created exoskeletons that allow people to walk and developed mechanical wombs so babies can grow. 

Rachel believes that young girls need to be able to have female role models in these jobs so they can aspire to be like them. 

She said that the way careers are marketed is also problematic and noted how frustrating she finds it to be asked to wear a lab coat in photoshoots when mathematicians don’t wear them.  

Rachel hopes that programmes like Countdown show that maths is accessible and can even be fun. 

She urges parents to do more to ‘smash the stereotypes’ and teach children that maths is relevant and can be used in the real world.