Selling STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – as a sector in which to work and invest is not a static occupation. Aerospace engineering expert and former NASA executive Jim Adams knows this, and has the experience to understand the way in which the goalposts have moved since, say, the Sixties, when the Space Race was a major driver and there were so many more ‘firsts’ to achieve.
“We’re miles ahead of where we were in the Sixties, technologically speaking,” says Adams. “Now, we’re raising a generation of people to be able to cope with this technology and the pace of change. People must be able to invent new things, but also to use them. It’s no longer just the big challenges, like space – it’s right down to cellphones and gadgets now.”
So where does teaching fit into the process?
“Moving forward has to do with inspiration,” Adams notes. “Kids learn how to use technology earlier now, but we must motivate them to do more. And the leaps forward in innovation that we experienced years ago won’t stop happening. They’ll just be different.”
Corporate crusaders
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