How gender, race and economic disadvantage are reflected in AP math and science enrollment in Florida’s public high schools

From the Fall 2023 course enrollment data recently released by the Florida Department of Education:

Young women are significantly underrepresented among students taking AP Physics 1, which is by far the most heavily enrolled AP physics course. The representation of young women among students enrolled in AP Physics 1, AP Chemistry, AP Precalculus, AP Calculus AB and AP Calculus BC is compared in the plot below to the percentage of females among the population of Florida’s public K-12 schools. One additional and perhaps surprising fact – only 48.7% of the state’s students are female.

Black students remain severely underrepresented in all five AP courses we are examining here. That underrepresentation is most severe in AP Physics 1 and AP Calculus BC.

Hispanic students are also underrepresented in these courses, although not as severely as Black students.

Students who are classified by the Florida Department of Education as economically disadvantaged make up about half of the population of the state’s public schools. They are badly outnumbered by the more affluent half of the student population in AP Physics 1, AP Chemistry, AP Precalculus, AP Calculus AB and AP Calculus BC.