STEM sells

As we continue through the Year of Engineering, the conversation surrounding attracting more women to study subjects including science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) continues to be at the fore.

Gender imbalances across these subjects are wide. The number of women graduating from a core STEM subject rose by just 300 in the academic year 2016/2017, while the number of overall STEM graduates who are female was 24 per cent. The February 2018 research, published by WISE, also found that while significant efforts to boost the number of women studying physics had increased the percentage of female graduates to 41 per cent, in subjects including computer science, engineering and technology, the levels were disappointingly low, at just 14-15 per cent.

There is evidently still more to be done to close this gap at degree level, and encourage more women and girls to continue with STEM subjects as they make choices about their GCSE, A level or college courses.

Catherine Hobbs is a professor of mathematics at UWE Bristol’s  faculty of environment and technology

For Catherine Hobbs, professor of mathematics at the faculty of environment and technology at UWE Bristol, the key is to make contact with these potential graduates years before they ever consider a university course. “Meeting someone a few years ahead is inspirational when you’re 15 or 16,” she says. “We send female student ambassadors into secondary schools for hands-on science days: they make up a smaller portion of the student population, but they are great ambassadors.”

While these STEM outreach programmes are great for girls who might not otherwise have the opportunity to find out about careers in robotics, engineering or computer science, for those aged 14-19 who already know that a STEM career is for them, BTE Academy in Stoke Gifford is a University Technical College and centre for excellence when it comes to STEM subjects. Their range of GCSE subjects and specialist engineering and computer science courses link up with some of the region’s largest employers, including Rolls Royce, to give students real-world experience outside the classroom.

“At BTE Academy we are working hard to actively recruit girls,” says Karuna Duzniak, head of post-16 and assistant principal at BTE Academy. “As we specialise is STEM subjects, all of the girls that come through our doors are here because they enjoy STEM subjects. We embrace the diversity and balance that girls bring to our school and year on year we have seen growth in the numbers of girls.”

Karuna Duzniak is head of post-16 and assistant principal at STEM specialists BTE Academy

The academy also uses girls as ambassadors during their open evenings – “to model what is achievable for prospective students” as Duzniak puts it. Seeing yourself represented can be a hugely powerful tool. “We have also broadened the range of courses that we offer to appeal to all types of student. For example, we have been working collaboratively with the NHS to help recruit students who could potentially take up degree-level apprenticeships working as clinical scientists, and this has successfully raised the number of girls in Year 12.”

For Professor Hobbs, encouraging more women to graduate from higher education STEM subjects is about more than just the basic economic argument. “We need 20,000 more engineering graduates in the next four or five years, so if there’s 50 per cent of the population who aren’t engaged, it seems like an obvious thing to do to encourage them,” she says. “But personally, I feel it’s about giving people access to opportunities. If teachers and parents haven’t talked about STEM careers as a possibility, you’re losing a range of great things you can do with your life.”

Save the date: Engineering our Future, a STEM event to inspire girls in Year 9, 10 and 11, will take place at UWE on June 28. Keep an eye on www.uwe.ac.uk to register your interest.