Breaking Barriers in STEM Education

For several decades, it has been well documented that there is a lack of diversity within the STEM sector. This is an industry that is facing a huge skills gap, not only in the UK, but globally. The price of inequality is being felt in these industries but what are we all doing to address this?


One of the most impactful pieces of work that I have experienced in my career is the report “Not for People Like Me” by Professor Averil Macdonald which addressed diversity issues in Science, Technology, and Engineering (STEM). This report and linked resources inspired me deeply. Professor Macdonald’s insights on unconscious bias and strategies for equitable STEM education continue to guide and influence my work both in the classroom and through STEMunity (a community of young people, educators, and industry who believe the next generation of young people are the key to future prosperity).


The phrase “Not for people like me” encapsulates the inequality that is experienced by women and other underrepresented groups. No young person should feel this level of discrimination or social injustice.


So, here’s a few things that I believe contribute towards working for a more equitable education system for all:


Add to STEM Capital - we should all be building opportunities to enhance this!


Over the past 10 years, the ASPIRES group out of UCL have produced some brilliant work around the concept of STEM capital. This concept that we can build opportunities into our school curriculum offers, both in the curriculum and extra curricula, allows students to develop understanding, experience and relatability of STEM skills and opportunities. Those students with higher ‘STEM Capital’ are known to be more likely to pursue careers in STEM fields if that is their area of interest.


This could look like a high-quality school curriculum that links examples of context and real-life problem solving. The RAEng (The Royal Academy of Engineering) have some incredible resources to support this approach as a legacy from their CST programme. It could also include opportunities to visit innovative and inspiring workplaces, to participate in engaging extra curriculum activities and to interact with positive career linked role models.


Creating opportunities from the grass roots - This is our STEMunity


Inspired by these experiences, I co-founded STEMunity with my colleague Jorden Birch. STEMunity aims to inspire underrepresented young people to pursue STEM careers by offering context-based learning and interactions with role models, bridging the STEM capital gap. We designed a variety of opportunities, including the 5PARK box, our Online Escape Rooms, STEM Academy Video series and our Mixed Reality Experience.


Address digital poverty - I’m proud that my school lead on this, I realise that we are incredibly lucky to have this programme.


The challenge lies in creating an educational ecosystem that allows ALL young people to flourish and explore diverse opportunities. As an educator in an inner-city school, I’ve seen the challenges first-hand, the impact of increasing childhood poverty. One transformative programme I have been lucky to witness is the digital strategy at my school, where students are provided with one-to-one devices in efforts to address digital poverty. This extends beyond the classroom with opportunities for families to engage with the learning opportunities.


In the era of the fourth industrial revolution, rapid technological advancements outpace our education systems. We must adapt to prepare students for uncertain future careers. Innovation is key, as we navigate this ever-changing landscape, we must continue to innovate in education to empower our students for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow.


When a more equitable society is achieved, I truly believe that the scientific and technological advancements will thrive, the areas that I believe must be addressed are:

  1. A more diverse and equitable curriculum which allows all to flourish.
  2. Industry and workplaces to truly reflect and act upon the mechanisms by which they can be more inclusive and diverse productive environments where no one would ever think the phrase “not for people like me”.
  3. Affordable and high-quality childcare for all to allow working parents to thrive.


Biography


Laura, an educator with 15 years of experience in Portsmouth. Alongside Jorden Birch, she co-founded the STEM education charity STEMunity, in August 2021. Through their education projects, STEMunity, has reached over 30,000 young people, striving to remove barriers in STEM education. Laura leads the STEM program at Portsmouth Academy and organizes community events. Her two young daughters, Millicent and Edith, inspire her dedication to positive change in education. Her story exemplifies the transformative power of education and its potential for the next generation.


This article first appeared in Engage 27.

BY LAURA WATFORD • February 26, 2024

36 Bicycles. Countless Futures in The Gambia.

By Ann Beatty • May 20, 2026
How a simple act of practical solidarity is transforming the journey to school in The Gambia’s Central River Region North Policies have been written. Schools have been built. Yet for many children in The Gambia’s Central River Region North, access to education is still measured in kilometres, not opportunity. 

Education for Hope in Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous Times

By Laura Griffin • May 13, 2026
‘In a single hour vast tracts of shaded woodland became a jumble of torn trees and upturned soil, exposed to the glare of the summer sun. Such land-clearing events are rare, but forests exhibit remarkable resilience in the face of disaster. I’m told that the Chinese character for ‘catastrophe’ is the same as that which represents the word ‘opportunity’. And, the blowdown, while catastrophic, presented opportunities for many species.’ (Wall Kimmerer, 2003: 89). In the context of a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world (Stein, 2021) what kinds of education for hope might support children’s and young people’s critical engagement in local and global issues? In the spirit of exploring the possibilities of hope further, this short article focuses on the area of global citizenship and sustainabilityrelated education. It will briefly open by sharing commonalities across pedagogical approaches that take up the concept and act of hope more critically, and close by offering reflective questions for educators, with suggestions for further reading. Perhaps it is a kind of hope that is grounded in the present, in future reimagining(s), in ethical solidarity, and an acknowledgement of our deep entanglement with the living metabolism of planet earth 1 our singular home (UNESCO, 2021); a hope that engages with complex root causes and lived realities of multiple overlapping crises in critically reflexive and contextually relevant ways. As McCloskey notes, ‘Hope can fire our collective imagination and critical consciousness as a mainspring to activism and intervention in the world.’ (2025: 3). Commonalities across critical pedagogical approaches to hope include: Acknowledging the context of a ‘seamless single story of progress, development and human evolution’ (Andreotti, V.D.O., 2021b Relating to social and ecological justice and the wellbeing of people and planet Using participatory, action-orientated and inquiry-based learning processes Exploring diverse worldviews and perspectives Practising grounding in the present with opening up possibilities for change (relational, embodied, response-able 2 ) Experiencing ‘struggle’ in different forms (dialogical, selfreflexive, open-ended) Engaging individual and collective agency, action and activism Looking for lifelong and life-wide learning and unlearning. 1 See ‘Co-sensing with Radical Tenderness’, in Machado de Oliveira Andreotti. 2021a 2 See ‘Crossing Borders’ in 2 Depth Education “Depth Education and the Possibility of GCE Otherwise, 2021b. Source: Andreotti, V. 2021a & 2021b., Atif, A. (2025)., Bourn, D. 2021., Bryan. A. and Mochizuki,Y., 2024., Giroux, H.A. 2025., Meade, E. 2025. Whilst engaging in the concept and act of hope more critically reflect upon: What kinds of education for hope might you explore further and why? How might you provide generative spaces for engaging in diverse worldviews and perspectives? In what ways can you facilitate individual and collective agency? How might you support learners’ practice grounding in the present in order to relate differently? In what ways can you support learners in navigating complex root causes and lived realities of local and global issues? As Chief Ninawa Hini Kui affirms, ‘The future depends much less on the images we project ahead than on our capacity to repair relations and build relationships differently in the present.’ (Andreotti et al, 2023: 73. An invitation for further reading: Transformative Learning for a Sustainable Future . d’Abreu, C., Belgeonne, C., Bourn, D. and Hatley, J. (2025) ‘Transformative Learning for a Sustainable Future’. DERC Research Paper 24. London: UCL Institute of Education. Hospicing Modernity: facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism. Machado de Oliveira Andreotti, V. (2021a) ‘Hospicing Modernity: facing humanity’s wrongs and the implications for social activism’ , London: Penguin Random House. Development Education and Hope . McCloskey, S. (2025). (ed) ‘Development Education and Hope’. ‘Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review’ , Vol. 41, Autumn. Centre for Global Education, Belfast. Link to and download the full reference list here

I heard it said today by a friend that “You learn a language best when you use it to speak and write about things that are important to you. ”

By Susan Piper • May 6, 2026
This summed up to me about why I volunteer for the Hands Up Project. HUP is a charity trust which, through its network of volunteers, connects children around the world with young people in Palestine. By means of online interaction, drama and storytelling activities, it enables the use of creativity and selfexpression to promote mutual understanding, personal growth, and the development of English language skills. I joined HUP in 2020 during COVID. After going to Palestine in 2017, I wanted to get more involved in working with Palestinian children in schools. HUP gave me the opportunity to link up with schools in the West Bank and Gaza. Every week I’d tell them stories from all over the world, then we’d discuss it, play games and I’d get them to retell it. Sometimes we would work from their coursebook English for Palestine’ in mutual team teaching sessions with their teacher. The simple act of telling a story became much more than entertainment. It became connection, healing, and a bridge to the world beyond their immediate reality to help them improve their language skills, and to give them a platform to speak about their lives in a language that connects them to people everywhere. I loved it, every week, seeing their smiling faces on the screen and building long lasting friendships with their teachers. I even went to Gaza in 2023 and met some of the kids I’d only seen on Zoom. It was a beautiful experience and something I will never forget. As hostilities escalated, I lost contact with everyone. I thought about where the kids were and what had happened to them. As I watched schools being bombed, universities flattened, and people killed in their thousands, I thought about where the kids I’d met were and what was happening to them. I kept in contact with many of the teachers I knew and heard daily news of displacement, destruction, hunger and bombing. Recently, I’ve started to link up again with children in Gaza, and it feels wonderful to be back helping them learn after being denied an education for over two years. Connecting with children in Palestine is more than just words. When a child in Palestine confidently tells their story to someone on the other side of the world, bridges are built, empathy grows, and the world gains a fuller picture of childhood in contexts far from peace and privilege. My work with these children is rooted in the belief that education and voice are inseparable. Through storytelling and English language learning, I witness children not just learning new vocabulary, but reclaiming their narratives, believing in their potential, and finding human connection in a world they perceive has abandoned them. And more than anything, this work reminds us all that children — everywhere — deserve to learn, to speak, and to be heard. Links to HUP information, books and resources: The Hands Up Project BY SUSAN PIPER Susan Piper is currently an ESOL teacher in Oldham, Greater Manchester and has worked in education for over 30 years. She is also a volunteer for the Hands Up Project and is the International Solidarity Officer and President of her NEU district. She believes in quality education for all and aims to make her lessons creative and inclusive so that effective language learning can take place.