The value of STEM Ambassadors

Encouraging and enabling young people to see the opportunities within a career in STEM is essential. It helps to prepare them well before entering a highly competitive job market, and provides the UK with a passionate and committed workforce in sectors where we have the greatest capacity for growth.

It is also what STEMNET (Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics Network) was established to do. We are a charity funded by government to raise awareness of STEM, especially among young people, to help ensure that the UK maintains a flow of well motivated, high-quality individuals into STEM jobs.

We achieve this through working in partnership with government, industry, professional institutions and our UK-wide network of local organisations, skilled in facilitating education and industry links and working with other STEM partners.

Our core programme is the STEM Ambassadors Programme, which has just celebrated its tenth anniversary. The Programme enables teachers to forge connections between the curriculum and how STEM is practiced in the world of work, illuminating applications across a vast range of careers.

This link is made through the STEM Ambassadors themselves. These are volunteers who work with schools, teachers and young people to stimulate and inspire their interest in STEM subjects. They are experienced communicators, who know how to engage with a young audience and are Disclosure and Barring Service checked, so can offer valuable support in enhancing and enriching the curriculum, by providing a link to the world of work.

We co-ordinate the STEM Ambassador Programme on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The programme enables around 25,000 volunteer STEM role models to work with young people, schools and youth organisations free of charge, inspiring them with the astonishing range and breadth of careers that can come from studying STEM subjects, post-16.

Many of the STEM Ambassadors have truly inspirational stories to tell having themselves come from very challenging backgrounds. They are passionate about going into schools and colleges and showing young people that pursuing STEM qualifications, at all levels, can lead to the most rewarding jobs for anyone who is willing to work to get them.

Over the last decade STEM Ambassadors have done a lot to support and encourage young people in the UK. They have been responsible for almost 100,000 engagements with young people in activities ranging from running STEM Clubs, helping with STEM competitions and awards, providing mentoring, career guidance or role model examples. In total the programme has helped many thousands of schools in the UK, and directly encouraged millions of young people to see the value and wonder in STEM.

The STEMNET Awards are designed to recognise and celebrate the work of individuals like STEM Ambassadors, schools and businesses in encouraging young people in STEM. In 2012 the awards were supported by BIS and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which is offering all winners a trip to CERN in Switzerland – home of the Large Hadron Collider and the study of the fundamental structure of the universe.  STEMNET received over 150 nominations and were overwhelmed with the dedication to engaging young people in STEM subjects displayed by individuals and organisations across the UK.

In November 2012 Elizabeth Orchard, an Assistant Civil Engineer at Peter Brett Associates in Reading was awarded the Most Dedicated STEM Ambassador at the STEMNET Awards. Elizabeth works in infrastructure design and won the award for her commitment to helping local students learn about engineering careers.

“Peter Brett Associates is dedicated to engaging with the local community but previously didn’t have a structured approach or programme in place,” she said. “Over the past two years I have developed a STEM Ambassador group within the organisation that now has over thirty employees involved around the country.”
STEM Ambassadors are asked to take part in a minimum of one activity per year, allowing for flexibility in how much time an individual or employer can commit.

Elizabeth is doing a lot more than this. She is collaborating with Oxford and Cherwell Valley College and Reading College to design the curriculum for a new University Technical College for 14-19 year olds, due to open in Reading in 2013. She is representing Peter Brett Associates, one of four industry partners – including Microsoft, Cisco and Network Rail – in providing guidance about the kinds of skills employers want, and need, from new recruits.

“Helping to design a brand new curriculum feels like the ultimate engagement with STEM education,” says Elizabeth. “For too long there seems to have been a disconnection between the skills students learn in the classroom and what employers need for their business. Industry is constantly changing and it’s our responsibility to collaborate with academia to provide real-world context for what’s being taught to the future workforce.”

STEM Ambassadors come from all walks of life and all sectors of the community. They may be practicing as scientists, engineers or technologists in a company or they may be people with a background and interest in those areas. What is important is that they are enthusiastic about STEM subjects and can communicate this interest and passion to young people.

A good example is Laura Harvey, a STEM Ambassador and an Apprentice Higher at BT. Laura won the Most Inspirational Technician award at the STEMNET Awards this year. She is based in BT’s Suffolk offices and works on the software engineering apprenticeship as part of their Innovation and Design technician apprenticeship.

What was so inspiring about Laura is her commitment to encouraging young people from her own community. She regularly attends careers fairs - including events held at her old sixth form college, Colchester Sixth Form, to give careers talks and raise awareness of job opportunities that don’t involve going to university.

“I feel that it’s important for people working as technicians to visit schools and let students know what these jobs involve,” she said. “As a software engineer, I’m constantly learning and refreshing my knowledge – it’s the perfect job for someone who doesn’t want to be stuck doing the same thing every single day.”
Whilst it is essential for us to have the skills, passion and expertise of individual volunteers, the support of employers in allowing their staff the time to engage with young people is just as critical. Around 3,000 employers, large and small, are already involved through the STEM Ambassadors Programme, with many more supporting in other ways.

ST Robotics, an SME in Cambridge, makes bench top robots for use in industry. The electronics company employs twenty staff from the local area and was looking for ways to engage the wider community with their work. They turned to STEMNET for assistance. Following discussions, ST Robotics developed and financed a programme of robotics-based activity for local schools. The project will be facilitated by STEM Ambassadors at every stage and it is planned to be made available to all Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire schools. 

This innovative approach saw ST Robotics awarded the Most Dedicated Employer at the 2012 STEMNET Awards. “As a small local employer, the STEM Ambassador Programme has provided a great platform for ST Robotics to connect with the community and help students in the area realise their potential in STEM careers,” said Geena Chako, an Electrical Engineer from ST Robotics. “A third of our workforce currently takes part in activities with local schools and this award recognises what can be achieved when industry collaborates with students to access the skills employers need.”

The impact of volunteers like STEM Ambassadors and the importance of learning outside of the classroom in this way can be undervalued. Museum visits, science festivals and theatre performances all contribute to learning about science, but a recent report from the Wellcome Trust (Analysing the UK Science Education Community: The contribution of informal providers. Stanford and Oregon State Universities, November 2012) showed how its value is not recognised.  On top of this, a National Audit Office report into educating the next generation of scientists found the STEM Ambassadors Programme resulted in a significantly rise in the number of pupils achieving GCSE science A*-C in 2008-09.

As the head of STFC, the UK’s funding agency for physics, astronomy and large research facilities, Prof John Womersley knows the importance of volunteering, as much as investing in fundamental research. “Government investment in STEM mixed with the support of schools, employers and individuals has helped to increase awareness of the possibilities available in STEM,” he said. “Young people have responded to this with great positivity. There was a dramatic 36.1% rise in young people taking GCSE science in 2012 and the increasing popularity of maths now sees 10% of all A Level entries being in the subject. A large part of this is down to the dedication of individuals like STEM Ambassadors.  Their continued support is essential if we want to effectively communicate the virtues of STEM to today’s young people, to show them what these skills can bring them and how they can open up new and exciting career paths.”

For more information about how STEMNET can help you inspire students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by providing introductions to STEM Ambassadors in your area, go to: www.stemnet.org.uk