On the Thursday before the February half-term holiday, the FSE atrium is full of colour and energy. Not because carnival is just around the corner, but because about one hundred pupils from five local secondary schools are here to present their final-year research projects to an academic audience. They quickly put up the colourful posters they’ve designed on towering display boards. Subjects range from the engineering behind Formula 1 cars to vegan ice cream and the effects of exercise on older adults. Once everything is in place, a three-member jury, including FSE Vice-Dean Harm Askes, begins to make the rounds.
Inspiring interest
FSE staff member Monique Scheepens watches with satisfaction. She initiated Bètasteunpunt Limburg two years ago, bringing together local secondary school teachers and academics. This poster presentation event is one of its results; FSE lecturers and students visited secondary schools to help pupils shape their research. “It’s just one of the things we do. One of our lecturers recently gave a lecture on climate change and biodiversity. We want to inspire pupils to choose a STEM degree and create a smoother transition from secondary school to university.”
Part of that effort involves classes that are being developed, with input from FSE, by secondary school teachers who work at Bètasteunpunt Limburg once a week. One of them is Leonie Titulaer, a chemistry teacher at Porta Mosana College in Maastricht. For the past eighteen months, she has spent every Monday working at FSE. “Look”, she says, pulling up information on mass spectrometry, a technique used to identify molecules. “This is a topic I would cover anyway with older pupils, but we’ve given it an academic twist, made it more challenging, so they get a sense of what it would be like to study this at university.”
Girls
“We want to give pupils a clear idea of what their future could look like”, adds Melissa Cremers from Graaf Huyn College in Geleen, who is involved as well. “At university, you choose a discipline, not necessarily a specific job. Once they understand that, choosing a STEM degree may feel less daunting – especially for girls, who often decide against it.”
At today’s event, the gender balance appears roughly equal. The vast majority of the pupils present take STEM subjects such as mathematics, chemistry and physics. Still, the boys seem more certain about studying hard science than their female classmates. “I’d rather study law”, says one girl in her final year, who researched the impact of social media on eating disorders. The girl next to her: “Business administration, or maybe something related to health sciences.” A little farther along, two girls are standing next to a poster with Batman on it. They did their project on painkillers, which they call “the invisible heroes of healthcare”. Will they continue in that direction? “No, I want to study cybercrime”, one replies, leaving the door slightly open for a STEM degree such as computer science.
There’s still much work to be done, says a physics teacher who has come to support his pupils. And it’s not just about encouraging young women to pursue STEM degrees. “The overall level of physics and other science subjects is declining. More and more is being removed from the curriculum. The girls who go for it are very strong. What this initiative is doing is great, but there could be even closer collaboration. Even in this project, more knowledge could have been shared. There’s still a long way to go.”
Budget
Scheepens would welcome that. If it were up to her, Bètasteunpunt Limburg would get a permanent place in the FSE plans and budget. “We’re currently funded through RAP [a grant to address regional teacher shortages] and received funding from Landelijk Overleg Bètadecanen (National Committee of STEM Deans), but we’d like structural funding. To secure that, we have to demonstrate our added value.”
After the poster presentations, Vice-Dean Askes is convinced of that value, although he can’t promise any financial support. “I’m enthusiastic about what I’ve seen today – pupils from across the region, some further along than others, but each with an inspiring story to tell.” The fact that some may later become students at FSE is a nice bonus. “It’s important to show who we are as a faculty and to reduce STEM anxiety, particularly among girls. We need them: they’re driven and often have a broader perspective, while boys tend to be more focused on solving equations.”
A little later, Askes – after admitting that all the poster presentations were better than the work he produced at seventeen – announces the winners. First prize goes to a project on how sport and school affect pupils’ motivation and mental wellbeing. The winners? Three girls.