Traditional stereotypes still shape girls' choices and opportunities and education, training and employment, the report - "Gender Equality and the Career Service" - for the Equal Opportunities Commission found. The privatised careers service came under fire for failing to redress the balance between boys and girls. Even initiatives such as the Modern Apprenticeship scheme showed big differences in the jobs taken by young men and women.Some 67 per cent of information technology apprenticeships and 96 per cent of engineering places were taken by young men with average weekly salaries of pounds 140 and pounds 115, but 80 per cent of those in business administration and 92 per cent in hairdressing were taken by women, where the average wage was pounds 107 and pounds 62 respectively.The prevailing view seemed to be "send a lad for the yard and a nice young thing for reception," the researchers said.While parents, schools, peers and managers were taken to task for reinforcing stereotypes, the careers service had a critical part to play in influencing young people, according to the study.Julie Mellor, chair of the commission, said equal opportunities had not been given a high profile by the careers service, but it was now in a position to make a real difference.. A pounds 15M MILLENNIUM Commission project to revive Bath's 2,000-year- old tradition of bathing in spa water has been delayed - by a mallard. Oblivious to the plans, the brown speckled duck, named Beatrice, built her nest beside one of six Roman buildings that are being restored. Now, as she warms her clutch, the project organisers are nervously awaiting a decision on whether they will be granted a licence to remove her six eggs. Mike Gray, the manager of the Bath Spa Project, said yesterday: "If we left the nest where it is, we would have a minimum of eight ducks - and possibly as many as 20 - swimming around in a closed space with chemicals, heavy plant and engineers monitoring the equipment.
The ducks would be in a state of panic."Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, a wild bird's nest cannot be disturbed without a special licence from the Department for the Environment. The Wetlands and Wildfowl Trust at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire has agreed to transport the eggs in an insulated box, hatch them in an incubator and then place the chicks with a foster duck.Beatrice and her partner, Arthur, have nested in the same place for the past two years. To try to ensure they went elsewhere this year, Mr Gray had strung netting across the top of the 30ft by 30ft Cross Bath. However, someone objected to the interference with the ducks' mating habits and cut the netting at night - three times.Bath's hot spring pools, which were used by the Romans for worship and healingwere closed 20 years ago.Preliminary tests to establish whether the water can be made safe for bathing and drinking are due to begin this month. The Millennium Commission has contributed pounds 6.7m to the project, which is scheduled for completion in 2001.. SCOTTISH TOURIST attractions are criticised in a leading travel guide published yesterday.
Edinburgh has a "thriving drug scene and a depressing Aids problem", according to the Lonely Planet Guide to Scotland. It describes John o' Groats as "a ramshackle tourist trap", while "appalling kitsch reigns through the summer" at Aviemore in the Cairngorms. The guide sees "little reason" to visit the elopers' town of Gretna Green, while Dundee, although a friendly city, has "ugly flats and unsightly concrete walkways". Glasgow's standard of living "remains low for the UK and life is tough for those affected by the relatively high unemployment, inadequate housing and generally poor diet", it says. Lord Gordon of Strathblane, chairman of the Scottish Tourist Board said: "Overall, the guide is extremely complimentary and the criticism is well balanced Some of the criticism is fully justified. We are tearing down Aviemore and rebuilding it, while Dundee has suffered from some of the poor planning introduced in the 1960s."The guide says:Aviemore: "More like a downmarket resort in the Rockies that can't quite invent itself in the swank image to which it aspires."Dundee: "Poor Dundee. This grey city is an unfortunate example of the worst of the 1960s and 1970s town planning - ugly blocks of flats and office buildings joined by unsightly concrete walkways."Edinburgh: Calton Hill, a gay cruising area where a Japanese tourist was badly injured in 1997, "is probably best avoided at night", while Edinburgh Castle is so "crawling with tourists" that it might be "more impressive from the outside looking in".