Girls in Stem High Tea
GIRLS IN STEM HIGH TEA
The MDCC Girls in STEM High Tea 2023 program was created to encourage and engage Year 9 girls in STEM pathways. The day focused on how transferable skills such as problem solving, critical thinking and creativity are front and centre of STEM careers. The students were supported by over 30 industry mentors from the Riverina, Sydney and Canberra to complete STEM based challenges.
Students completed pre and post surveys and were asked if they would choose Science Technology Engineering Art and Mathematics (STEAM) based subjects in Years 11 and 12. The initial response from students was strong (with 44.3% of students stating yes), however there was a 46.3% improvement, with 87.9% of students stating yes from the post-survey. This would suggest that the guest speakers, mentoring, challenge and teacher guidance throughout the day supported this improvement.
Students were also asked if they could see themselves working in a STEM related field in the future. Interestingly, based on the pre-survey results, approximately 30% of the students could see themselves working in the field yet approximately 44.3% of students found that they would choose STEAM related subjects in Stage 6. Post-survey results showed a 41.2% increase in the students ability to see themselves moving into a STEM related field in the future. Some of the students responses that supported this increase were:
“After today I learned so much about the stem field and I am very interested.”
“Yes because STEM is everywhere and in most careers I’m interested in.”
“Perhaps I could find something as there are lots of options.”
“After listening to all the guest speakers, there are a lot of careers out there that I might be interested in.”
“Their are a variety of fields that you can work in regarding STEM”
“Yes I find STEM interesting.”
There are lots of different job opportunities included in STEM and it can lead you into so many different ways and paths in life.
“I can now see myself using maths in my work field when I am older”
“Yes I can see myself working in the future because STEM is in so many areas.”
“I liked hearing about architecture and hearing it from a mentor gives me an idea on what my future could look like.”
“I now know about all the different areas and jobs in STEM and a lot of these jobs interest me.”
“I am open to following a career path in STEM.”
“After listening to some of the mentors talk about their experiences, I think that I could see myself working in a STEM related field.”
“I think that stem related fields are all around us and whatever I decide to do there most likely have some aspect of stem involved in it.”
“I’m now inspired to do medicine.”
“Yes because I am really interested in becoming an Architect and I would really like to become more knowledgeable.”.
Year 9 Students
In conclusion, the aim of the Girls in STEM High Tea, to promote and encourage future STEM pathways for Stage 5 girls, was successfully achieved based on the positive feedback provided by students, staff and mentors. A further study is to increase in the confidence level of the students to choose STEM related subjects in the future or enter into a future STEM pathway. It is recommended that the Mater Dei Catholic College Girls in STEM High Tea continue in future years. The aim would be to run the event so that it can be extended to a wider audience in 2024.
Thank you to Ms Lily Attwood, Associate Professor of Hypersonic Testing from UNSW Canberra, who coordinated and ran the Aerospace Challenge and guest speakers, Mrs Gioia Gianniotis, Director GPG Architecture and Ms Caren Elliot, apprentice Electrician, Transgrid for sharing their STEM journeys.
Thank you also to Ms Stacey Suidgeest, Senior Project Officer - Educational Partnerships from the Department of Education and Training who helped with the coordination of the event and the wonderful mentors for giving up their time to share their STEM knowledge and stories with our students.
Mrs Courtney Freebody | Leader of Learning - Digital Technology and STEM
MENTORS
