Professor Archer delivered a talk on why many young people don’t see science as a subject for them. She spoke about what can be done to tackle this through increasing and diversifying participation in the sciences.
The talk examined research from the ASPIRES and APSIRES 2 projects which tracked the development of young people's science and career aspirations from age 10-19.
The IOE project revealed the barriers to young people participating in science. These include gender, race and socio-economic inequalities. Another barrier was the way in which school science can make it hard for many young people to continue with science.
The project has gone on to inform the policy and practice of many organisations who work to increase and widen participation in STEM.
The conversation covered the importance of these findings and why outreach activity is so important. The participants also spoke about which types of outreach activity are most effective.
Professor Archer and Tim Peake were joined by Jeremy Curtis (UK Space Agency) and Jessica Leigh (student at Imperial College London) in the discussion.
The UK Space Conference ran from 24-26 September at the International Conference Centre in Newport, Wales.
Links
What happens to the ‘could have beens’ who decided not to teach?
Mark and Elaine hear from researcher Emily Macleod, who says that if we want more people to try out teaching, we have to stop thinking of it as a vocation.
29 Nov 2024
Being human and being kind: IOE at the Bloomsbury Festival
IOE academics shared their expertise at the Bloomsbury Festival in October through activities exploring the science behind ‘humanness’ and kindness, as well as the history of student life at UCL.
08 Nov 2024
“Beware of anyone who claims to know it all.”
As human beings, how do we learn? In this episode, Dr Rebecca Gordon explores how educational neuroscience can be used in the classroom.
07 Nov 2024