Science 'not for ordinary people'

Children appreciate the role of science in society but feel scientists are "smart people unlike them", the new study reveals.

The Center for Science Education in London asked 11,000 students about their views on science and scientists.

About 70% of the 11-15 year olds asked said they did not envision scientists as "ordinary and attractive women and men".

The investigation sought to understand why the number of people involved in this area is declining. Researcher Roni Malek and Fani Stylianidou will complete their investigation in April, but so far they have analyzed about half of the answers.

The group found that about 80% of students think scientists have " done very important things " and 70% imagine they work " creative and imaginative ". Only 40% said they agreed with the idea that scientists do " boring and boring jobs ".

More than three-quarters of the children were asked to see scientists as " really smart people ".

Among those who admitted not to be scientists, the main reason was " Because you will always be depressed and tired and you don't have time for family ", and " Because they all wear big glasses and white coats, and I'm a girl ".

Dr. Stylianadou said: " These results worry the British scientific community but also bring hope. The younger generation recognizes science as important and attractive. But they don't think they will do it themselves. " .

" If we can keep the young people's positive attitude to science and help them see the full aspects of this career, many of them may realize that becoming a scientist also very interesting ".

In the UK, the number of children achieving A level in physics decreased by 34% from 1991 to 2004. In that same period, the decline in chemistry was 16%. Math also witnessed the same situation, with the number of students reaching level A dropping by 22%.

T. An