Linking careers to STEM subjects
The recent Budget announcement of an additional 20,000 university places from September in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects highlights the need for more young people to develop higher-level knowledge and skills related to these subjects.
Key to inspiring young people to study these subjects is linking them to careers. One way of achieving this is to integrate careers education with curriculum delivery. This has a number of benefits, including reducing the demand on timetabled careers lessons and utilising the experience of subject professionals to enthuse students who are considering STEM careers paths.
Here are just a few ideas for incorporating careers education into subject delivery.
For Years 7-9
Students can use Launchpad to identify careers which STEM subjects are useful for. Divide students into groups and assign each group a STEM subject which is listed in Launchpad relevant to the subject class. Each group uses Launchpad to find careers that the subject they have been allocated is very useful or useful for. The group uses the information to produce a poster showing the careers that each subject links to.
For Years 10 and 11
Using Careerscape's Subject Links and Career Families, students research the careers that STEM subjects can lead to. Their task is to present to the class the wide range of careers that the subject relates to. They can use videos, photographs and statistics from Careerscape to support their presentation.
A follow up activity to completing Kudos is for students to link the careers that were suggested to STEM subjects. Most careers include skills or knowledge which can be linked to the subjects. Students can produce a piece of writing which illustrates this link.
Where students haven't completed Kudos, they can use Careerscape instead (or Launchpad, for younger students). They can take as examples the careers of people they know and describe how they link to the STEM subject being focused on. For example, "To be a sports coach, you need knowledge of anatomy to understand how to make the body perform better." Or, "In hairdressing, you use maths because when you are mixing colours you need to work out the right amounts."
Post-16
Students use the higher education information in Careerscape to identify course opportunities. They use the Keyword selection and add any Keywords that they associate with the STEM subject that they are studying. This will generate a list of courses which link to the STEM keywords they have entered.
By embedding careers education within STEM subjects, a whole school approach to careers can be achieved and, with greater cohesion, students recognise the link between their education and subject options and their future career.