Paul Jackson

STEM education needs to keep real world in focus

News

The chief executive of EngineeringUK highlights some STEM careers stories that got lost towards the end of 2016.

Some news is deliberately buried and in the festive season some simply gets overlooked, but there were a number of stories that caught my eye at the back end of 2016.

Firstly, the OECD issued the results of its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Amongst other things, the PISA data suggests more than a quarter of teenagers in England are considering a career in science, while three-quarters of pupils believe their STEM lessons are helping to prepare them for life after education.

In contrast a MathWorks survey released the same week said teachers believe the curriculum is failing STEM careers. The survey showed that 79% of teachers believe that students who spend time enjoying STEM-related extracurricular activities are more engaged with STEM subjects in the classroom. And the majority of teachers felt that students typically start taking an interest in career choices by age 14.

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