Chris Hayhurst, consulting manager, MathWorks, said: “Research shows a person’s early cultural references and values affect their attitudes to a subject. If we provide positive experiences and forge deeper connections, we can change attitudes towards STEM in the long term.”
When asked to consider their own experiences; 40% said they were inspired to love the subjects by their families and 19% knew they wanted to follow a STEM profession by the time they were 10 years old; 46% had made the decision by 16.
While, typically, encouragement is expected to be the responsibility of the education system, a third of those surveyed claim that school encouragement wasn’t important in their decision to enter into their chosen occupation. And, despite half saying that the teaching of STEM related subjects has improved since they were in school, 38% argue schools aren’t producing people with the skills that society needs.
Most respondents agreed that the emphasis for turning out future STEM professionals shouldn’t be placed on educators alone and that families and the industry should take on a greater responsibility. Of those questioned, 60% fostered their love of STEM outside of the classroom, having enjoyed extra-curricular activities like the Science Museum with their family. In terms of what the STEM industry could do, nearly two-thirds said employers should be hosting school visits – while 56% also believe they should be funding projects at schools.
“It’s time to go right back to the beginning, and enable young children to get hands-on so they can see that computing, maths and physics, for example, are very creative as well as technical,” added Hayhurst. “We need to engage them in fun applications of the subject to capture their imagination.These early experiences are really important as they feed into the decisions children make about their own study paths.”
