Blog: Playing a role in extra curricular STEM

When I ask you to think about science classes in school, chances are you think about young people doing practical experiments. You may think back to your own experience, recall the buzz in the lab or maybe even the smell. Sadly, the reality for many students in schools today is that they are more likely to watch a video of someone doing a practical than they are to do it themselves.

Why does this decline in hands-on work matter? Beyond helping students make the connections between classroom learning and real-world application, it motivates young people to continue to study science subjects. In fact, new research shows that over half (52%) of students in the first 3 years of secondary school say doing practical science is a key incentive to learning science. And 73% say they want to do more.

These stats come from more than 7,000 students surveyed in the third Science Education Tracker, which we commissioned in partnership with the Royal Society and with funding from Wellcome. Hands-on practical science has declined for all students in secondary schools in England since the first survey in 2016. Given how motivating young people find these experiences, it’s perhaps unsurprising that young people are also less interested in science at school. I say it is unsurprising but I hope we can all agree it is very worrying indeed. This decline in interest is driven by girls, with 65% of 11 to 14 year old girls saying they are interested in science in 2023, down from 75% in 2019, while boys’ interest held pretty steady at 76–77%.

Girls of this age are also less likely to think they are ‘good’ at the subject (43% compared to 53% of boys) despite performing as well as boys in their STEM GCSEs. Half of girls say science being difficult is the main barrier to them studying it, compared to under a third of boys. Regrettably, some students are put off science and computing because they perceive them to be uninteresting and difficult.

What’s causing these issues? Some of these trends started before the pandemic but have likely been exacerbated by it. Many relate to the way in which science is taught, and the importance of having well trained, qualified, and well-resourced teachers cannot be overstated. Young people say that being taught by ‘good’ teachers is a key motivation for learning about science and computer science. Sadly, not all schools have specialist maths, science, computer science and design and technology teachers, especially in areas of economic disadvantage, and girls are more sensitive to teaching quality. It is so important that we all advocate for better recruitment and training of these teachers and that we do what we can to show our appreciation of those working in the profession and help where we can.

The 2023 Science Education Tracker included questions about engineering careers for the first time and the findings are a real cause for concern. Interest in engineering and computing or technology careers drops off as students progress through school and there’s a stark gender gap – neither is true for science. Overall, engineering careers interest less than a third of girls but nearly two-thirds of boys. 

These findings must be taken as be a call to action and they do show us how we can help. Less than half (43%) of students had STEM extra-curricular activities in the previous year. And we know these activities encourage students to continue studying STEM subjects – half of students that visited a business said this, and 45% said the same about a talk given by someone like a STEM Ambassador. The most impactful activity was project work. Students were also asked whether they had ever had STEM related work experience, while 15% had done so, a further 26% had wanted but been unable to do so.

There is a huge need here for the engineering community to step-up and help young people see the opportunities for them in engineering and technology and be encouraged to continue to study STEM. These range from offering talks and work experience to students to hosting schools and colleges for visits. Wherever possible, we should incorporate hands-on activities to help offset the decline of this in lesson time. And we must make sure that we recognise and celebrate the skills that young girls show to help build their confidence. We need to give all young people chances to meet real engineering and technology professionals who they can relate to.

Please think about how you commit to helping young people right now. And do reach out to us at EngineeringUK, as we can help in many different ways, from offering volunteering opportunities and free support through the Tomorrow’s Engineers Code, to helping your business develop a new STEM strategy to inspire the next generation into engineering and technology.