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October 31, 2017

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Opening up options for girls in fields they never knew existed

STEM is very much today’s educational buzzword, but the importance of a strong STEM education goes far beyond the current trend.

As a female STEM graduate, at a time when few women studied STEM subjects (there were only two women on my course including myself), the opportunities my materials and engineering background presented to me were seemingly limitless. Employment as a polymer development chemist in a male-dominated industry would have been a daunting task were it not for the strong foundation in science, technology, engineering and maths laid down at university. In the six years I worked in the field, I came across only one other woman who worked in the same field as myself, a situation that ultimately led to a career in teaching. In the decade that I taught STEM subjects in the UK, I was determined to increase the uptake amongst girls, opening up possibilities for them in careers they never knew existed and extolling STEM careers as the tools of the future.

At Harrow, we have an integrated STEM program as part of the curriculum. STEM lessons are not structured as ordinary lessons and have a strong emphasis on project management. Pupils are encouraged to think independently, manage their time, research and work together on a variety of projects ranging from designing and building wind turbines to designing UV blockers for use in space. Projects have a real-world meaning and provides a window to the world for pupils who are beginning to have a greater understanding of what it is to be a global citizen.

STEM subjects embed invaluable skills to pupils that have applications to their everyday lives. With greater investment in STEM subjects directly driving development, the correlation between jobs and graduates in STEM fields cannot be ignored. Here in China, as many as 40 percent of the 7.7 million graduates have a STEM degree and it is no coincidence that STEM is seen as vital to global prosperity. STEM subjects prepare students now for jobs that don’t even exist yet. Companies such as NASA, Pepsi and even 21st Century Fox are already leading the search for the “next Elon Musk” and the visionaries of tomorrow, with scholarships provided to teens at the forefront of innovation and sustainability.

As we move into a world less reliant on oil and the possibility of a future with greater limitations on resources, it is the STEM subjects that will provide the solutions to ever increasing global problems.




 

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