IOE team making STEM participation more equitable awarded Royal Society’s Athena Prize

The UCL STEM Participation and Social Justice research group aims to make STEM fields and subjects more inclusive, accessible and equitable for all young people.  

The team was awarded the Royal Society’s Athena Prize “for their cutting-edge research and development projects which have increased understanding, transformed practice, and led to more equitable participation in STEM”. The prize recognises teams who have contributed most to the advancement of diversity in STEM. 

The research group's activity encompasses four currently projects that all seek to understand and challenge injustices in STEM engagement and participation: ASPIRES, Making Spaces, Primary Science Capital, and Youth Equity + STEM, as well as the now concluded Enterprising Science project. 

Through these projects, the team have trained over 200 UK-based teachers and over 120 informal STEM educators, reaching thousands of young people from under-represented communities each year. 

The Making Spaces project facilitates playful and safe environments for engineering and technology-based skills to be learnt and practised in Makerspaces. Of the young care leavers, ethnic minority, working-class and unemployed young people who joined the Makerspaces interventions, 88% reported increased STEM skills, knowledge and confidence, 94% felt they had increased agency and 85% felt they could now have a future in STEM. 

The longitudinal ASPIRES project follows young people’s career aspirations from age 10 to 23 and has increased understanding of the factors supporting and hindering young people’s STEM trajectories. Science capital, a concept with an explicit commitment to social justice which originated in the ASPIRES project, is now widely used in STEM education policy and practice.  

The team developed the Science Capital Teaching Approach to help children find more meaning and relevance in science subjects. The approach is currently being embedded through a national network of regional primary coordinators and ‘developing all children’s Science Capital’ is now a criterion within the Primary Science Quality Mark, an award currently held by over 11% of primary schools. 

Professor Louise Archer, who leads the group, said: “It is wonderful to have the STEM Participation & Social Justice group’s work recognised by the Royal Society and the scientific community. We hope that winning this award can further our messages of social justice within science education and help us to continue to improve equitable STEM participation for young people.” 

Across UCL, the Royal Society also awarded prizes to Professor Richard Ellis (UCL Physics and Astronomy), who is a recipient of Royal Medal A, and Dr Tiago Branco (Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, UCL Life Sciences), who receives the Francis Crick Medal and Lecture. 

Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society said, “On behalf of the Royal Society, I offer my congratulations to the outstanding researchers, individuals and teams whose contributions to our collective scientific endeavour have helped further our understanding of the world around us. 

“Science has always been a team game, and I’m proud to see such a wide array of skills and specialisms reflected in this year’s medals and awards. From the original ideas that open up new fields, to the team effort that delivered the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, or the vital work of technicians and those opening doors for the next generation of talented researchers – I am proud that we can celebrate outstanding scientific contributions in all their forms.” 

Links

• STEM Participation and Social Justice Research 
• UCL academics honoured by the Royal Society
• Professor Louise Archer's research profile
• Department of Education, Practice and Society