STEM
Futures
STEM
Pathways
There are a range of skills and
knowledge that STEM provides that
are beneficial for everyone.
Skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, analysing, and communicating information provide a way of engaging with the world that are useful across a person’s lifetime. It is important that opportunities to develop these skills and knowledge are provided to all children regardless of their gender or background from a young age and throughout formal schooling.
Engaging with STEMeez website resources will enable children’s STEM skills and knowledge that are not just useful to function in daily life but also used in jobs in areas ranging from farming, economics, mechanics, to architecture and design. Also, these skills and knowledge provide pathways to the more traditional STEM careers such as mechanical engineering and laboratory science. However, these days STEM careers are broad and encompass careers such as those in conservation, product and robotics engineering, marine biology, games development and astrophysics.
Gender and STEM
Careers across science, technology, engineering, and maths is still underrepresented by women and there is lower enrolment in these subjects in secondary school and higher education. STEMeez website and learning platform resources is an outcome of research with parents and educators with many of them stating that when they support their child to play or engage with STEM activities it is based on their interest rather than gender.
While tapping into children’s interest is important, we also need to think about gender equity. Years of research has reported that many children by the age of 3 and 4 have established understandings of gender norms which effects the games, materials, and relationships, their choice based on stereotypical understandings of gender. STEMeez will take you through a journey in which adults will become aware of how to encourage or introduce children to materials and activities that might move them beyond what might be understood as for boys or girls.