On The Day of the Girl Child 2019 (Friday 11th October), a cohort of Year 8 & 9 girls from five of Staffordshire’s Secondary Schools took part in a STEM careers educational event organised by Soroptimist International of Lichfield and District, in partnership with Entrust and held at South Staffordshire College’s Rodbaston Campus. The event was very generously sponsored by Perkins Engines.
The aims of the day were to provide interactive workshops for the girls enabling them to experience Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) activities, and raising awareness of career opportunities within these traditionally male dominated professions. (According to the WISE Campaign in 2018, 22% of the UK’s core STEM workforce was female – a fall of one percentage point from 2017.)
The schools attending were Chase Terrace Technology College, Clayton Hall Academy, The Hart School, Nether Stowe School, and The Rawlett School.
Five different workshops were presented by Perkins Engines, The Manufacturing Technology Centre, South Staffordshire College, The Body Shop and Wells Plastics.
Presenters from those organisations delivered workshops on topics in: – Building a Self Supporting Tower, The Egg Drop Challenge, Creative Media – TV Presentation, Polymer Engineering and Making a Lip Scrub.
The event was staffed by 13 helpers from SI Lichfield plus five more from other local SI clubs, alongside colleagues from South Staffordshire College Rodbaston. Seven school teaching staff also attended.
In its eighth consecutive year of presentation, Skirting Science 2019 was very successful as evidenced by the complimentary feedback received from students, staff, and presenters alike.
Once again the students appreciated the ‘hands on’ approach so the more interactive and challenging the workshop the more they appeared to enjoy it. They especially enjoyed being able to talk to young women already enjoying challenging STEM careers, and more than 56% said their attitude to STEM as a potential career had significantly changed as a result of the day, while 93% recognised that STEM can offer well-paid, interesting careers for young women.
“It’s a wonderful and in some cases, life-changing experience for the girls!”