SECONDARY NEWS
Research suggests STEM subjects most popular among teens
School students favour STEM over creative subjects, according to brand- new research exploring how to prepare young people for future careers in the world of AI.
Dukes Plus, a leading education consultancy firm, has analysed what students are currently learning to find how it aligns with predictions for the future job market.
In a Dukes Education survey asking 1,000 school students which subjects they most enjoy, over four in 10 chose STEM lessons, including computer science, biology and maths.
Humanities topics were second favourite, but creative subjects, like art, music, and drama, were the least popular — only chosen by a quarter of school students.
The interest in STEM seemingly continues into further education, with online monthly searches for ‘computer science A level’ seeing a 21% year-on-year increase.
This popularity is a positive sign as STEM careers are estimated to grow in importance due to a greater need for climate change specialists, digital skills and medical staff in the future.
However, further research suggests that school resources are not fulfilling this growing demand for STEM studies — nearly nine in 10 parents said their children’s schools needed more high-quality maths and science teachers in a recent report.
A greater focus on STEM at school will be critical for filling the
already-present green skills shortage, which ranges from a scientific understanding of the natural world to clean energy engineering skills.
Although global demand for green skills has risen by 40% since 2015, only 13% of the labour workforce has the necessary skills, according to the World Economic Forum.
While creative subjects were the least popular, creative industries are reportedly the third largest employers of STEM graduates and hire many humanities graduates.
Humanities subjects can also provide young people with various soft skills, like resilience, communication, and empathy, which will prepare students for many job types. Soft skills are also likely to become coveted as jobs require the human qualities that AI can’t provide.
Alison Bissell, Director of Dukes Plus Consultancy, said: “More than ever before, students are asking us how they can “future-proof” their educational route. They’re keen to minimise the risk of their future degree being gazumped by a job market transformed by AI.
“The demand for Computer Science courses, particularly at the undergraduate level, is entirely out of sync with availability, whereas the Humanities “stock” is low.
“Whilst speculation around the skills gap of the future gets us so far, we’re fundamentally here to help students cut through the chatter, and make bold educational decisions that leverage their strengths, open up possibilities, and give rise to a satisfying career.”
Downe House hosts annual STEM Symposium
Local independent boarding school for girls, Downe House, recently hosted its annual STEM Symposium in collaboration with Radley College, showcasing several talented students who worked in teams to complete STEM challenges beyond the curriculum. The team-led event was designed to promote collaboration and collective problem-solving across four of the STEM subjects including maths, computing, chemistry and biology. With one complex challenge for each subject, four teams of students from Year 10 to Year 12 worked together to solve specific problems.
Each challenge was designed so that collaboration, rather than individual thought, was essential for success. The challenges included tasks such as identifying patterns in prime numbers, natures cures for scurvy, identification of ions and decoding encrypted messages. For each task, one member of each team was provided with some prior reading ensuring that all students had the opportunity to lead the team as well as have an impact on everyone’s success.
Charlie Littledale, Head of STEM at Downe House explained, “Students from both schools really immersed themselves in the tasks and understood the importance of teamwork to ensure success. The range of talent was impressive, and the students showed themselves to be incredibly adept at applying new knowledge in order to solve the problems posed.”
The students found the new areas of STEM inspiring, and the event gave them a taste of what further studies in each of the fields might be like, beyond secondary education.
“Increasingly, feedback from industry is that students, whilst knowledgeable 10
www.education-today.co.uk June 2024
in their fields, are lacking in some of those fundamental soft skills such as communication, critical thinking and problem solving. Events like the STEM symposium provide students with further opportunities to develop these skills to ensure that their education is not just about achieving excellent grades, but also about continuing their success and making an impact once they leave school,” added Mr Littledale.
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