Authors: Maria Clavert, Professor of Practice & Jaana Suviniitty, Researcher; Lena Gumaelius, Associate Professor; Panagiotis Pantzos, PhD student
Universities: Aalto University; KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Academic publication/Link to full research:
Research description:
Technical universities are investing substantial effort to motivate upper secondary school students to study Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). However, a systematic approach to developing these outreach activities is widely missing and, consequently, their effectiveness defies measuring. We interviewed the organizers of 10 successful Nordic STEM outreach initiatives to understand how the different context-specific designs contribute to a model of motivating youth to study engineering. The findings are relevant for all faculty members who are interested in increasing the number of applicants in engineering education.
Main findings:
Based on the interviews with the organizers of Nordic STEM outreach activities, we identified how the activities have been designed to support interest development towards STEM subjects. The resulting ways of supporting interest development towards STEM were based on different activities ranging from faculty-specific initiatives to online videos, physical platforms, and nation-wide umbrella organizations. When these practices were examined through the lenses of motivation, we were able to identify a model that may be applied in all technical universities to design successful STEM outreach activities and evaluate their effectiveness.
Expanded research description:
Technical universities are increasingly investing substantial effort to motivate upper secondary school students to study Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). While previous studies have described a wide range of outreach practices to trigger interest towards engineering education, the findings are often scattered, descriptive, and context specific. A systematic theoretical approach to developing STEM outreach activities is widely missing, and the organizers often have different opinions on what makes the activities effective.
In order to understand what technical universities should do to successfully introduce youth to STEM subjects, we interviewed the directors and organisers of 10 different Nordic STEM outreach activities. The activities ranged from faculty-specific initiatives to online videos, physical platforms, and nationwide umbrella organizations. Most of the activities are university-led and targeted at upper secondary school students. The descriptions of the activities were analyzed abductively with thematic content analysis.
The findings reveal how Nordic STEM outreach activities have been designed to support interest development towards STEM subjects. When the common practices of forming interest in STEM among youth were examined through the lenses of motivation, we identified a theoretical model that may be applied in all technical universities to design successful STEM outreach activities and evaluate their effectiveness. The findings are relevant for all faculty members who are interested in increasing the number of applicants in engineering education.
Motivating adolescents to study engineering – Analysis of different Nordic STEM outreach activities
Motivating adolescents to study engineering: promoting autonomy
Motivating adolescents to study engineering: raising awareness
Motivating adolescents to study engineering: strengthening competence
Motivating adolescents to study engineering: supporting relatedness
The project was financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership programme and additional funding from the involved universities.
The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
