attended a convent school in Ireland.
Yup, that'll be it then!!
I also have experience of Irish nuns (and they are strange creatures) so I suspect they were just gearing you up for marriage and procreation.
But, conversely, it was shown in the UK that girls who attended girls' schools (when they existed in the state system) faired better in the sciences than girls who went to mixed schools.
Maybe teacher bias towards boys and girls not being taken seriously? Maybe the boys themselves being more pushy in getting the teacher's attention and help. Maybe old stereotypes coming through? I don't know since I did well in science at a state school but interesting and curious results nevertheless.
I also suspect that the problem is less with the way parents bring up their sons and daughters but possibly a peer pressure as well from the grandparents' generation.
But, at the end of the day, in the final analysis, generally-speaking, on the whole, girls just don't want to do it. I know many of my friends think I'm nuts. Why? they want to know. What's so fascinating? £300 per hour? You could buy a pair of Jimmy Choos for that! And that, guys, is the difference between me and my best friend!!
Cheers
Whirls