Girls and STEAM subjects

The UK CEO of Siemens, Carl Ennis, told delegates at the Girls’ Schools Association (GSA) annual conference in 2021 that fighting climate change ‘will need the broadest, brightest and boldest minds and will be a struggle without a fully cross-sectional and gender-equal cohort of scientists, engineers and technologists. Inevitably, scientists and engineers will be at the heart of dealing with the challenge. And diverse teams are more likely to reach scientific breakthrough.’

Each year the UK needs 203,000 people with Level 3+ engineering skills to meet demand. This generation of teenagers is perhaps the most committed to protecting the planet. The interest in COP26 – and the attendant activism – was evidence of that. If contributing to the planet’s survival encourages more girls to consider a branch of engineering as a career that will be a positive aspect of the global crisis we all face.

Women account for just 24 per cent of the UK’s workforce in engineering, science and technology (while 51 per cent of the working-age population are female) with only 12 per cent of them in engineering (Women into Science and Engineering (WISE)).

I believe one of the reasons for these sorry statistics is a lack of female role models. Another is a widespread lack of information, even a false perception, about the nature of the jobs available in those sectors and the opportunities they offer for a range of highly successful and adventurous careers. Many girls do not have a chance to see what these careers look like or to hear the list of exciting, unexpected answers to the question ‘What do engineers actually do?’.

Girls in girls’ schools are more likely to study STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects at A level. In fact, they are nearly three times more likely to take maths and physics. But, more widely, when it comes to choosing university courses, many girls are rejecting science options.

This may be because of the binary nature of the decision-making aged 15 concerning A-level subject choice. This is an unrealistic approach to learning – the truly inquisitive and bright child will have a wide range of interests and will have understood how subject boundaries blur. An all-round education does not encourage pupils to ‘drop’ subjects.

Creative And Critical

More than ever, the world needs creative and critical thinkers who can demonstrate technical and mathematical skills, digital literacy and scientific knowledge. But an engineer who has studied product design or art will be bringing to their technical and scientific work not only an aesthetic appreciation but also a creative approach grounded in experimental thinking and design or concept development from start to finish. The combination of STEM and Arts subjects (STEAM) is often where innovation is forged.

Employers have made it clear that, whatever the sector, they are placing greater emphasis on emotional intelligence in their recruitment: young people who are both self-aware and socially aware, and who can work collaboratively. Potential leaders no longer have to demonstrate their mastery of command and control; rather they need to show how best they can engage with their colleagues. In my view, study and appreciation of the arts help to develop creative, analytical and critical thinking but also deepen our understanding of human emotions and situations.

Here at Malvern St James, we have more girls than at any time studying STEM subjects at A level, and more girls going on to read STEM subjects at university. But they are doing so with a background and continuing interest and involvement in arts. For example, they are combining physics and maths with art or design technology, or biology and chemistry with psychology and music.

I am wholeheartedly committed to this approach. This is why we have recently appointed a Head of STEAM, a new post which encourages a multidisciplinary approach to teaching and learning and which resembles real life much more than the strict division of subjects in the traditional curriculum.

It could be argued that in a girls’ school, it is easier to encourage pupils to take an interest in STEM subjects because there is no gender stereotyping. Younger girls see the older ones as STEM subject mentors and they see the usefulness, as well as the fun, of participating in national STEM challenges and Olympiads and in the excitement of research. The Malvern Festival of Innovation, which takes place virtually on our school’s doorstep, is a treasure trove of opportunities – our Years 7 and 8 won competitions for their design and building of cars in both the Bloodhound and Mazak challenges.

We have added entrepreneurship to our Year 10 programme and have also increased our links not only with universities but with business and industry so that the girls have as many opportunities as possible to see and hear about the world of work for which they are preparing. We organise off-curriculum, out-of-school activities such as local work experience sessions and job placements for girls in Year 11 and above, visits to careers fairs, tours of local factories and a trip to RAF Cosford for our Year 9 pupils. And at the other end of the school, we have a team of six sixth-form pupils participating in a CREST research project where they are carrying out a series of novel chemical reactions in school to synthesise intermediates for potential use in the pharmaceutical industry.

We are also lucky to have successful alumnae who are happy to come back to their old school to talk about their own careers. This offers the chance for the pupils to hear and ask questions about a wide range of experiences. It is impossible for teachers to provide these first-hand insights.

As we watch the march of artificial intelligence (AI) across every aspect of our lives, the excitement offered by school computing departments and the interest in coding continue to grow. Computing is a subject that defies subject definition and is an excellent example of creative and critical thinking without boundaries. The National Cyber Security Agency is doing excellent work in encouraging girls into the cyber sector with their Cyberfirst and Cyber Discovery programmes.

MINI-ENGINEERS

Children are naturally mini-engineers. Just watch them building and tinkering and notice how creative they are about solving problems. Formal education doesn’t allow them the scope to make the most of these natural attributes so it is important for schools to try to find creative ways for young children’s inborn curiosity to be nurtured and have practical outlets. Our own prep girls, aged 4 to 11, have undertaken a Mini Young Enterprise Challenge as well as a STEAM club where they have programmed robots and created circuits to light up a dolls’ house. They also take part in National Science and Engineering Week where the whole school goes off curriculum to enjoy workshops and all kinds of scientific challenges. These all provide excellent platforms for building self-confidence. It’s crucial to keep those hands-on experiences through senior school so that children’s natural enthusiasm for finding out how things work is not switched off.

Education needs to be increasingly outward-looking, taking place beyond the classroom to make the necessary connection with real life and to understand the application, not just the theory, of ‘subjects’. The application of science in all its wonders needs to be embedded in the curriculum. The the thrill of problem-solving – with those exciting eureka moments –needs to happen across the whole of the school experience, whatever subject you are learning.

Schools need to be more adventurous about demonstrating to pupils, all pupils, just how many careers STEM offers in terms of intellectual excitement, personal fulfilment, and social and environmental benefit.

If we can do that, with conviction and ambition, I am confident we will witness a growth in the number of women opting for a career in STEM, especially if that choice has been supported by the fundamentals of a STEAM education. The arts have a place in a civilised life, in a career that makes a difference. They are not an extra.

Olivera Raraty became Headmistress of Malvern St James Girls’ School in September 2016. Previously she was Deputy Head (Academic) at Notting Hill and Ealing High School in London and enjoyed a long career at Wycombe Abbey School as Head of History and Politics and Assistant Director of Studies.