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Computing attends Downing St roundtable on widening participation in STEM careers

Computing attended a roundtable discussion chaired by Baroness Barron MBE on widening access to STEM careers

Yesterday, Computing attended a roundtable discussion at 10 Downing Street chaired by Baroness Barron MBE, Minister for the School System and Student Finance. The minister hosted entrepreneurs in fields as varied as AI, Fintech, construction and space, as well as those from advocacy and charity organisations working with schools, apprenticeships and tech employers, all with the aim of widening participation in the STEM workforce.

Before inviting the views of participants, the minister began by sharing some statistics and recent developments. STEM subjects have become significantly more popular at A-level, and mathematics is now the subject most widely studied at A-level, with girls accounting for 38.9% of A-level mathematics entries last year. The minister also invited those present to consider the much newer T-Level qualification, and its potential as a route into further education or apprenticeships.

T-Levels are not well or widely understood. One delegate represented a technology advocacy group which has recently conducted research of those working in technology who are also parents and asked those individuals about the paths they wanted their children to take. Whilst most were aware of T-levels and apprenticeship opportunities and considered them positively, they favoured the traditional academic route of A-levels and university for their own children.

Many of the people present expressed concerns about the way that science, maths and computing are taught in both primary and secondary schools, and about the computing curriculum in particular. Many state secondary schools don't even offer a GCSE in the subject due to a shortage of teachers, and there was agreement among those familiar with the curriculum that it is deeply uninspiring. A-level computing has the widest gender gap of all the STEM subjects, with girls accounting for only 15% of overall entries.

However, the discussion was concerned with more than improving the gender balance of STEM, important as that is. Many of those present were working hard to try to extend opportunities to young people living in harder to reach parts of the country, and those from backgrounds where parents might not be as aware of the opportunities that tech careers in particular can endow.

One interesting idea raised was the prospect of bussing school children and young adults into events such as London and Manchester Tech Weeks and other flagship events. Such events are well attended by industry and politicians, yet the audience that they need to reach in order to even begin to address the digital skills deficit is completely absent.

Several industry representatives also expressed concern the focus on STEM has been almost too successful. The creative arts and humanities are increasingly being positioned by some commentators as an expensive waste of time. This is an approach which fails to consider not just the fact that the creative industries contribute billions to UK GDP and the enriching, humanising necessity of the arts, but also the way that technology is changing, and the type of roles that will be needed in the next decade.

AI will soon be able to code better and faster than human developers, which means tech employers are seeking polymaths - those combining technical skills with creativity. One industry representative said that he had employed as many social science and humanities graduates as computer science ones. Young adults holding qualifications in creative subjects have much to contribute to UK tech.

The roundtable concluded with a consensus that technology needs a serious image makeover in order to persuade young people that it's a sector which offers an array of typically well remunerated opportunities. There was also consensus that the window of opportunity for UK tech is short, and the task is urgent. The nascent UK computing industry removed itself as a global computing power sixty years ago, in large part by discarding a resevoir of home grown computing talent. Care needs to be taken now to avoid repeating the same mistake.

Computing attends Downing St roundtable on widening participation in STEM careers

Computing attended a roundtable discussion chaired by Baroness Barron MBE on widening access to STEM careers

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