Girls performance in physics, technology and related mathematics has been a general cause of concern. There preference for biological rather then physical sciences, for example, has been a permanent feature of secondary education. Such preferences have had the unfortunate effect of allowing generations of girls to leave school lacking the confidence and qualifications to pursue job opportunities over a wide section of the employment spectrum. It is essential, therefore, that teachers of technology attempt to identify the reasons for this "negative" preference and consider what could be done to challenge it.

1. Emphasise Values
There are 3 components that combine to constitute an understanding of technology: values, knowledge and skills. In teaching the subject we can take any one of these as the starting point for a technological activity. For the purposes of developing a modern technology curriculum, however, schemes of work should begin from the values standpoint where an issue is studied on the basis that it has some relevance to technology. An example might be to take the issue of burglary as the starting point, investigating trends, newspaper reports and its impact upon society. The benefit of this approach is that it will attract more girls because technology is no longer seen as largely concerned with technical solutions to technical problems. Rather, technology is used to emphasise the relevance of people, their quality of life, their social problems and thus changes the whole emphasis from objects to people, from the impersonal to the personal.

2. Offer Optional Areas of Study
Flexibility needs to be built into the curriculum. This can be done by providing choice as to the media of application or by providing, particularly at Key Stage 4, optional areas of study. In this way we will ensure that boys and girls are enabled to pursue activities which are of particular interest to themselves

3. Demonstrate the Fantastic and Spectacular
Girls and boys alike are interested in the fantastic and spectacular aspects of technology. These demonstrate dramatically how technologies were conquered, the breathtaking moments when human intellect and skill were realised, and the very real way in which technology is concerned with the quality of life. This natural interest should be stimulated.

4. Relate Projects to The Real World
The design activity we involve students in should relate to the outside world whenever possible; we must engage girls in design activities beyond the school and domestic context.

5. Avoid Abstraction
In the past, boys projects invariably focused on some technical principle, whilst girls projects focused on some social problem or need. Abstract problems, such as making a buggy to climb over a pile of house bricks, whilst appealing to boys would generally cause girls to wonder why such a device was required, where it would be used and who would use it. The abstract quality of the problem does little to attract interest or contribute to a concern for the quality of human life. Such a problem could well be made more relevant or more attractive to both boys and girls by placing it in context, such as a game for a summer fair or a vehicle to travel across rough country.

6. Avoid Diffusion the Subject
Whilst attempting to devise schemes of work which appeal to girls it is important not to give a false or diluted impression of what the subject is about and what further study and perhaps employment within the subject field would entail.