WOMEN in STEM Career Insight Visit @ SAGE
Written by Maria Tonchievici, Deputy Head of Programmes – Education & Mentoring Works
Welcome to the STEM Career Insight at SAGE! On 28th March ELBA, BIG Alliance and SAGE worked together to host a themed Career Insight Visit for 30 Year 10 students from Highbury Fields School. The students experienced a session with volunteers who work in various departments at SAGE.
The theme of the Career Insight Visit was Women in STEM, and aimed to raise awareness about STEM related careers and open the horizon to female students about pursuing a career in STEM. As part of the ice breaker, the students were involved in an open discussion on barriers for women who want to get into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) and brainstormed ideas on how to break those barriers. Volunteers provided an industry insight into the world of SAGE and continued, after a well deserved catered lunch (pizza and chips), with an activity on Great Women in STEM. SAGE created pamphlets about some great women in STEM and asked the students to choose one woman and create a poster highlighting their achievements and contributions. The challenge portion of the CIV saw the students working in smaller teams with the volunteers, which highlighted their teamwork, communication and creativity skills.
The students really used their skills to collect the most relevant information and create visual posters. All teams presented their poster, and in the end, one team was declared the winner.
The day was a success and that was highlighted in the student and school staff feedback. The school has expressed their interest to organise another Career Insight Visit between next academic year. Thank you to the volunteers at SAGE!
Student feedback: What have you enjoyed the most about the session?
“I enjoyed the group presentation and working together.”
“I have learnt that the sector of technology is very big and all sorts of jobs are included.”
“Touring the office and discussing different career options within STEM. Poster competition was really fun and interactive.”
“I will say that coming to SAGE has immensely impacted my viewpoints of the working world and the information given was really eye opening and engaging.”
“I learnt that women as well can start focusing on working in different careers in STEM and created the opportunity of group working.”
Alongside the positive feedback, 84% of students said that the session has improved their awareness of the world of work and understanding of how a business works. Even more, the students were able to work and improve on the eight Skills Builder skills as outlined below:
72% of students improved their aiming high skills
72% of students improved their staying positive skills
80% of students improved their listening skills
80% of students improved their speaking skills
64% of students improved their problem solving skills
80% of students improved their leadership skills
72% of students improved their team work skills
64% of students improved their creativity skills
School coordinator feedback:
“Thank you so much for welcoming our Year 10’s to the amazing SAGE offices for a STEM careers day today. It was super informative, and the students had a brilliant time. The staff were also really impressed. Thank you for all the information you have provided our students with, and thank you for your hospitality to our staff!”
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