Centre for Industry Education Collaboration (CIEC)

February 14, 2021

I would really like to congratulate CIEC as the organisation celebrates its 25^th year! This is a fantastic achievement for Joy Parvin and the CIEC team where ‘children, teachers and STEM professionals from industry collaborate, under…expert supervision and guidance’. (CIEC website, 2021)

Joy Parvin (Director) and Jane Winter (Professional Development Lead) have an amazing team including Mackayla Millar (advisory teacher); they are based at the Chemistry Department at the University of York. They combine training of industry partners and school staff with resourced problem-solving school activities and interactive site visits to industry. I met Joy about 18 months ago through Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM) and although at that point there was not an opportunity for our school to get involved in their Careers Learning, which I had been researching for my Masters in Education (MEd) Research project, she was very helpful and supportive with my research. Having read the Wellcome Trust report, ‘Young Peoples View on Science Education’, issues highlighted by pupils included gender, beliefs re difficulty, a lack of work experience and bad teaching. The work of CIEC is absolutely vital.

I used resources from the CIEC website to engage teachers during Conference sessions at SEERIH 2019 as well as with my Y6 pupils as part of my research project and their Careers Education- this also enhanced our Careers Mark submission through Complete Careers 2019/20 last summer. It became increasingly obvious to me as I researched further reports including ‘Drawing the Future’ and ‘Elitist Britain’ (2019) just how vital these interactions and opportunities are on the future of our young people and the paths they forge.

We share a common interest and passion for ensuring children develop an understanding of Careers and industry to enhance/encourage their science/STEM capital and also to ensure any traditionally stereotypical views regarding women in STEM are challenged. There is a real need for STEM study to be considered and engaged with by all pupils to bridge the STEM skills gap.

As part of my studies, I carried out a literary review and I found the the OECD report, ‘Dream Jobs’ (2020) to be highly enlightening-

‘Good careers information starts early and connects relevant learning with future economic life, with trustworthy information sources and also addresses stereotyping, broadens understanding and is available for all, whatever socio-economic background. It supports children to think about the future- having rich and plentiful engagement from the world of work and employers that help to contextualise and personalise these environments and professions for students. Real world career exposure is a must’.

By the age of eight, girls and boys routinely develop gendered ideas about jobs and careers with long term implications. This is worrying as jobs in science, research, engineering and technology are expected to rise at double the rate of other occupations between now and 2023 and the majority of jobs on the Home Office Shortage Occupation List are in either STEM-related or IT roles. (Gov, 2018).

I am therefore thrilled and happy to share the excitement at Burlington Juniors about our up-and-coming involvement in the programme (remotely) next month- with our Y5 pupils. The modified programme allows for remote sessions- having really captured the need for such opportunities in school since the outbreak of Coronavirus. Our pupils will be amongst 9 schools taking part in the remote version in the Yorkshire and the Humber region. We feel really proud to have made this association and to have secured this opportunity for our pupils- so important as they evolve on their educational journey.

‘In 2020, blended and fully remote versions of the programme have enabled the team to offer CCI to schools and companies across the UK…during this time of increased remote learning, site visits have transformed into an exciting combination of live classroom interactions with STEM professionals in their place of work, and pre-recorded demonstrations that children would usually see during their site visits’. CIEC Website

In addition, I have become a Primary Representative member of the Children Challenging Industry (CCI) Advisory Committee which I am delighted to have become involved with. We had a meeting recently and I am proud to be included with such esteemed colleagues. It is so important that every child is given the opportunity to maximise their life chances. Many pupils have challenges which effect their social/cultural capital and social mobility. They need to be exposed to a wide range of opportunities so they can feel and know that Science is for them and they can have a wide range of experiences to draw on as they evolve as human beings and the adults/workforce of the future.