Looking back, my interest in STEM began with making mud pies in my mum’s vegetable patch at my family home in Lae, Papua New Guinea.
Everyone has their own “where it all started” story. Most of my high-achieving students started young, attending science festivals and fairs, or watching cool, “sciencey” programmes on television. They all were inspired to study STEM subjects by someone or something in childhood.
STEM education is basically any learning that falls under the categories of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. When STEM education starts young, usually through play, it encourages children to develop new ways of learning, sparks curiosity, and creates a mindset of gaining knowledge in a fun and engaging way. This then nurtures skills such as ingenuity, innovation, creativity, collaboration, problem-solving and critical thinking, and acts as a tool to enhance literacy and numeracy.
Growing up in Papua New Guinea, it was instilled in me that learning, whether informal or formal, is the key to building one’s future. I saw the absolute importance of education first-hand; educated individuals could benefit from a better lifestyle, enhanced social standing, and gain the respect of the community by giving back.
It was not until I was 18 and an undergraduate chemistry student at the University of Papua New Guinea that I discovered there were more benefits of education. It brings about special knowledge, in-depth understanding, and awareness of how things around us work when applying learning to the real world.
STEM subjects are for everybody
For the past four years, I have been a lecturer in higher education in Scotland. I have taught a plethora of courses which fall under the subject areas of chemistry, environmental science, biology, statistics, and many other STEM-related topics.
A UK Government department of education study conducted between 2010 and 2020 found that the number of women accepted into full-time STEM undergraduate courses increased by 49% over that period. This is a huge achievement because, in the past, children and young people, particularly girls, from disadvantaged backgrounds did not have easy access to STEM subjects. It underlines the fact that this type of education and the careers it leads to are for everybody.
I have taught students from various backgrounds, and from the six continents of the world. Throughout my teaching career, I have found that students who were taught STEM subjects or took part in related activities at an early age did well in school, or easily understood topics that were covered in class.
On top of improving the knowledge and prospects of individuals, STEM education is highly relevant in our world today, given the global issues and societal injustices we are dealing with. Advance HE recently launched a new education for sustainable development framework. This aims to support all UK learners to develop the relevant knowledge, competencies and values needed in order to be agents of change when it comes to the interconnected global challenges we all face.
Educating future generations is our best defence
Education and equipping future generations with knowledge and skills is our best defence against climate change. Incorporating STEM and the ideas of sustainability and global citizenship into education curricula will play a massive role in helping young people to inherit and care for the world we live in.
The inevitable transition from the use of oil and gas to renewables across the UK will result in the energy job sector changing drastically for workers, particularly in the north and north-east of Scotland.
A properly educated population will go a long way towards fulfilling the goal of reaching net zero by 2050
With the country and the world moving forward with the “green agenda”, it is important for the UK to equip its citizens with quality education that incorporates sustainability as one of its core principles. After all, a properly educated population will go a long way towards fulfilling the goal of reaching net zero by 2050.
Equality and inclusion in education are important. Institutions that are committed to equality in every aspect of how they operate can and will raise aspirations, increase opportunities, and inspire achievement for students, regardless of their social or economic backgrounds.
Start them young
As a lecturer, I am at the forefront, taking an active role in tackling global challenges through learning, teaching and research. So, in a sense, I am one of the many academics across the UK developing the world’s human resource by equipping scientists and engineers with the vital skills they need to better the world.
But that learning can and should start long before formal education begins – perhaps in the garden, with a mud pie or two.
Encouraging our children and grandchildren to explore their interest in science of all kinds will not only benefit them but the world as a whole.
Above all, we need to make sure no one is left behind, and that more women, people of colour, and people from disadvantaged backgrounds are encouraged to take an interest in STEM from a young age. This also means that we need to start them young.
Dr Yalinu Poya is a lecturer in environmental science at the University of the West of Scotland
- This article is part of a partnership with Pass the Mic Scotland, a project focused on increasing representation of women of colour in Scottish media
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