Girls do not take physics at A-level because they think the subject is only for white boys, MPs have been told.
No mention of female scientists in the national curriculum contributes to "the message society gives" to discourage girls from picking physics, leading physicist Prof Dame Athene Donald said.
"If you are black or if you are a woman, you don't see yourself fitting in," she said.
In 2021, 23% of physics A-level entrants were female.
This is a slight increase on previous years.
Prof Donald, from the University of Cambridge, told the Commons Science and Technology Committee it was "relevant" that "most of the images one sees of scientists, physicists, are white males".
