Teacher survey reveals funding and time are key barriers for delivering STEM outreach
90% of teachers surveyed say they faced barriers to STEM outreach – with ‘funding and time’ the key blockers.
A report into how teachers engage STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) outreach has found the majority have faced barriers.
EngineeeringUK surveyed 800 STEM teachers from across the UK, and its findings, in ‘School Report: How teachers engage with STEM outreach’, the first of a series of briefing reports, found that although a high proportion said they had engaged with STEM outreach such as after school clubs and out of class activities in the last academic year, the majority of STEM teachers – 79% - had faced barriers.
Funding (52%), time (49%) were the main barriers, while just over a fifth (22%) saying staff resources were a barrier.
Some teachers also highlighted additional costs, including hiring a cover teacher or travel for out of school activities, an issue.
Being unable to find suitable outreach was also a problem for teachers, with difficulty in finding suitable activities (18%) or organisations to work with (20%).
Whilst time and funding are key, the research highlights issues around access also need to be addressed. In addition to the funding, time and staff resource barriers, the pressures of delivering the national curriculum were also cited.
Barriers to providing (more) STEM engagement activities or events
The research found teachers are predominantly finding STEM activities online, directly from providers, and through their own professional networks. Despite this, barriers to engagement remain for the majority.
Recommendations for providers and funders:
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Reach teachers where they are – online through social media or through available websites like Neon
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Use teacher ambassadors to support with your activity to promote to others in networks
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Support with bursaries to ensure schools with the tightest budgets aren't missing out
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Promote inclusion of underrepresented groups
Head of Research at EngineeringUK, Becca Gooch said, “Engineering is not included in the curriculum, so outreach is an important avenue for young people to gain subject or career knowledge, and without it, could impact on young people’s knowledge and perceptions.
“We know STEM outreach plays a vital role in sparking interest and passion in STEM – so we need to parents and industry to support teachers and pupils in STEM outreach.”
EngineeringUK has a dedicated brand – EUK Education - to support teachers and career leaders with inspiring STEM activities and dedicated career resources and experiences can be found at Neon.
EngineeringUK supports STEM outreach through EUK Education, including its Big Bang, Energy Quest and Climate Schools Programme, Neon, bursaries and resources. It also supports industry to reach more young people with targeted, high-quality outreach.
The next themes in the School Report series to be published in the next couple of months, explore practical work, teacher awareness of all routes into engineering and technology, and teacher recruitment and retention.
We need more young people to be aware of the opportunities open to them. What we need is for more engineering and tech employers to be reaching more teachers so more young people can engage with STEM outreach.
— Becca Gooch, Head of Research at EngineeringUK
