FOCUS ON: THE STEM SKILLS GAP
The STEM skills gap is costing the UK billions – education can be the solution
Entrepreneur career that was introduced to me, and now I find myself going down that path of thinking.”
Exposing students to courses like EVERFI’s at an early point in their education, before GCSE and then A-Level subjects are chosen, offers them a flavour of the opportunities available. This, in turn, can translate to increasing career aspirations in this much needed area and students studying the subjects they need at school to follow these paths.
T
he World Economic Forum has estimated that 65% of children starting their education will end up working in jobs that don’t yet exist. At first glance, this statistic can be hard to get your head around. When you consider the advances that are being made every day in STEM, they are changing the way we live our everyday lives. It becomes obvious that today’s children are going to be working adults in a very different world to the one they are currently growing up in.
As the world changes, so does the need for different skills to fuel it. At the moment we are not keeping up with the demand. The current skills gap in the UK is costing the economy £1.5 billion per year as there just aren’t the people with the right skills to fill the open vacancies. Young people are leaving education ill-equipped for the workforce they are entering and all the new potential career paths stretching before them.
Digital education innovator EVERFI from Blackbaud, wants to solve this problem and ensure young people are well-informed about what a future career in STEM could look like, with two completely free, interactive and engaging courses - Endeavour and Data Science Foundations.
Endeavour is a first-of-its-kind interactive career exploration programme which not only further inspires those who are already interested in a career in STEM but inspires those that aren’t. Ideal for students students aged 11-15, it provides real-world context, (such as exploring advanced manufacturing techniques by designing and prototyping their own custom sneaker) to help young people see where their existing skills are applicable, and opens their eyes to all future opportunities.
Data science is one particular area where the skills gap is largest, especially amongst girls. Data Science Foundations empowers 14-16 year olds with knowledge about the fundamentals of data science, its currency in the job market, and its application to everyday life. It is designed to help
students learn a blend of statistics and computer science, and to help build critical thinking skills. Both courses have been designed in partnership with teachers and subject experts and Endeavour was adapted for the UK after achieving wide acclaim in the US and Canada, where more than half a million students have taken it over the last three years.
While there is a general STEM skills gap, there is (and has always been) a very low number of women working in these fields in comparison to men; only 22% are female, despite women making up half of the UK workforce. If we are to fill the skills gap, we cannot leave girls behind. A 2019 Government report has found that by KS4, female students already have very different attitudes towards STEM subjects then their male classmates, and were more likely to rate themselves worse at such subjects, despite the fact that they outperform boys. These differences are compounded in the home, with Ipsos MORI finding that parents were more likely to discuss the potential of STEM jobs with their sons than their daughters. The world is working against them; young women are subconsciously discouraged from following a career in STEM before they have even been given the tools to contemplate it properly.
This is why courses like EVERFI’s are so important. Endeavour has been specifically developed to appeal to students who are less confident in STEM subjects, with the hope that it will encourage more girls, as well as more pupils from low-income or minority backgrounds, to pursue STEM careers.
Students who have used Endeavour have said that they found it very enlightening in terms of what careers they could have after school, some of which they had not considered before. One KS4 student said: “I liked how interactive and creative the programmers of this system made [it]. I liked that you were tested in your comprehension, mathematical skill, problem solving skill, and much more. I also loved how you introduced careers based off our performance and the specific part of the program that we are in…I was very intrigued towards the Social
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www.education-today.co.uk December 2022
The courses use simple, interactive and animated scenarios from real life, and role play, to engage, teach and stretch pupils’ critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. They speak a language young people can understand and make complex- sounding topics accessible. This means topics which sound complex, such as data science, are really accessible, so students understand it is more than just numbers - it is something which affects so much of the world around us; from powering online shopping, streaming your favourite television show, or reading the news on your phone.
David is Head of Science and STEM Programme Lead at Reading Girls’ School, and has been using Endeavour with 60 girls in Years 7 and 8. He said: “It is more important than ever to give students the opportunity to explore STEM careers. This course shows them the aptitudes needed for [them] and encourages them to think about careers they may not have considered.” Speaking of the impact, David explained: “One of my pupils [Suzy, aged 12], has told me that since starting this course, she is considering a career in STEM. I’m not surprised. This course walks through the topics in a logical and engaging way. Some of my Year 7 students have done two or three modules already.” With demand for STEM skills growing, with no signs of slowing down, now is the time to tackle the problem and engage young people before they leave school, ensuring they have the skills they need to succeed in their future careers.
If you’d like to inspire your class in the STEM career opportunities available you can sign up to EVERFI’s free platform today to access Endeavour and Data Science Foundations - as well as many other courses - here:
ueverfiteachers.co.uk/register
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