The choice of the second year of secondary school is a decisive step for the school career. However, this period of choice is marked by social representations in the form of stereotyped social constructs that influence and even condition pupils’ choices. For example, boys are seen as being made for the scientific streams and girls for the literary streams, which makes some girls reluctant to take up the scientific streams. As a result,studies repeatedly show that girls tend to opt for literary subjects rather than science subjects. However, in a social context marked by sexist stereotypes that help to dissuade most girls from choosing science subjects, they are increasingly opting for these subjects. To this end, without endorsing sexist stereotypes, this research used a quantitative method involving 135 girls to question the personal factors that encouraged them to choose the second scientific option. The results indicate that the girls’ previous image of the 2nde C, their self-image, their identification with a scientist as a role model and their career aspirations were the main factors motivating their choice of the 2nde C. In addition, this choice appears to be both a break with the established sexist social order and a self-affirmation, or even a self-fulfillment, of the girls’ career aspirations in the field of science. Moreover, this choice appears to be both a break with the established sexist social order and a self-affirmation, or even self-fulfillment, of the girls through their professional aspirations in the sciences. Although the issue is not new, it is still topical and is rarely addressed in the way that this article does. In a context where education policies are encouraging girls in particular to go into scientific fields, the results of this research provide a basis on which these policies can be built.
Keywords: science series; self-assertion; sexist stereotypes; personal factors; choice of studies
