You can change the World

This week is British Science Week, that’s right, a whole week celebrating science in the UK.?Is that a groan I hear?

For some reason science in the UK is no longer a popular subject.?Why is that??Is it the way it is taught in classrooms? Is it because of how difficult it can be to learn the subjects? Maybe it is down to stereotypes?

One thing for certain is that the UK still has a massive shortfall of science graduates and yet our businesses cannot grow without new talent in these areas.?I can almost hear the defiant screams from some business owners of that statement – “my business is based around creativity and it therefore doesn’t need science”.?My counter argument is, what about all of the tech you use as part of your creative business??Computers, electric cars, mobile phones, 3D printers even the latest and greatest materials you might use such as carbon fibre reinforced plastics? All have a basis in science and without advances in all fields of science and engineering the World and our lives stop moving forward.

As a scientist at heart, I have a background in biochemistry, I came through the schools and university systems to learn the subjects.?It was very different back then, blackboards were still in use and occasionally we might have a treat of a VHS video to spur the imagination.?However, the primary focus was the basics in biology, chemistry, physics and maths. Lots of theory, testing and the freedom to get hands on with experimentation meant we had a solid foundation on which to build.?As a result more difficult topics at university and early jobs were much easier to understand as they could be related back to the fundamentals.

Fast forward to today and those same basics I find lacking in so many of young people.?We regularly need to assist apprentices with basics in maths and some simple concepts in computing.?These are the same topics I was taught at 13 to 15 years old and were the foundations I used throughout my career.?Is it possible that the reason we are getting so few science graduates is that we are no longer teaching the basics??Are young people given so many choices in so many subjects that there is no longer time to teach all of the basics?

The other concern is the number of females in these science-based subjects.?How many female engineers do you know??How many female computer technicians do you know??Could it be the stereotypes of programs such as “IT Crowd” with the nerd haircuts and glasses are the issue?

The skills I look for when choosing new apprentices to work in Absolutely PC are:

• A love and ability to problem solve.
• The desire to know how things work.
• Communication skills – ability to communicate with people from different backgrounds, skillsets and knowledge.

These skills are as suited to females as they are to males and yet we have very few female applicants.

As a scientist I have a different perspective to a non-scientist and so this week I thought I would pose the following questions to you.

Do you agree that science is no longer seen as “sexy”?

What do you think we need to do to encourage more young people into the sciences?

Finally, what would the IT industry need to do to attract an equal proportion of females?