One Chance Approach

The headlines from this years exam results all had one thing to say "The boys were back in town." That for the first time since the GCSEs were introduced, boys out did the girls. Now this isn't because this cohort of girls weren't as able as the boys this year, but the shift from modular to linear courses. Some evidence has shown that girls get more anxious about the exams and therefore perform less well compared to their coursework of if they know they will have the opportunity to resit.

This one chance approach is also the approached used when thinking about careers. It's crazy to think that students spend all that time at school with the end goal to get a job when they leave education, however the total number of hours spent on careers advice and experience in some schools is as little as one 30 minute session.

STEMgirls Club offers a weekly opportunity to learn about the multiple different vanities of STEM from biomedical engineering, to coding, to structural design. Each session offering suggestions on possible careers, and a positive female role model attached to that career to show the girls they could do that too. This approach is much more "girl friendly" than say a careers fair, or a talk at a local university, as it offers up time and a safe space to ask questions they need the answers to when weighing up what to do post education.

If you would like to know more about STEMgirls club, whether it be to have at your school, or to offer funding, space, or time as STEM business. Please do not hesitate to contact me on stemgirlsclub@gmail.com