Gender role models in STEM - inspiration or threat?

It is well-reported that the number of women pursuing careers in the physical sciences and engineering is in the minority. Across the UK less than 20% of engineers are women and only 22% of those taking A level Physics are female1. In Europe the numbers are similar in most countries. With the overall shortage of graduates in these areas, much effort has been spent on trying to even the balance. With the shortage being so large, the rationale has often been that appealing to only 50% of the population (male) will not help solve the problem of supply to the STEM industries. In addition to solving the STEM skills gap, there is evidence that more diverse teams perform better and that at the very highest level women have a positive impact on organisational success2. One of the ways that has been used extensively to tackle this issue is the use of role models working in STEM to show young people a more diverse range of scientists and engineers. There is evidence to suggest that a large number of young people still hold negative views of scientists and engineers. Many young people though use positive words to describe scientists (eg useful, clever, helpful, creative) but still do not self-identify as someone who could do science. They feel strongly that careers in STEM are ‘not for people like me’

Evaluating the long term impact of live science demonstrations in an interactive science show

Science shows are a popular format for communicating science that are used widely across the world, yet there is little literature about the long-term impact they may have. This research investigated the short- and long-term impact of a specific science show called ‘Music to your ears’, which was written and performed throughout the UK for students aged 11-16 years on behalf of the Institute of Physics. The impact is measured using the immediate reaction to the show, the number (and type) of demonstrations that were recalled long-term, and the application of any memories since seeing the show. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered using questionnaires immediately after the show and from focus groups that were held two and a half years later. In addition, interviews with professional presenters were conducted to allow for triangulation of data. Five science demonstration categories were developed to describe the essence of a demonstration; curiosity (C), human (H), analogy (A), mechanics (M) and phenomena (P). These categories were then used as a framework to discover which had the biggest impact over a long period of time. It was found that even after two and a half years, almost 25% of demonstrations from the show could be recalled without prompting. When prompted with verbal and visual clues, the group tested could recall more than 50% of the demonstrations from the original show.. In addition, around 9% of the demonstrations were recalled in an alternative context to the show, suggesting that some cognitive processing may be happening with the most memorable elements of the show

Gender role models in STEM - inspiration or threat?

It is well-reported that the number of women pursuing careers in the physical sciences and engineering is in the minority. Across the UK less than 20% of engineers are women and only 22% of those taking A level Physics are female1. In Europe the numbers are similar in most countries. With the overall shortage of graduates in these areas, much effort has been spent on trying to even the balance. With the shortage being so large, the rationale has often been that appealing to only 50% of the population (male) will not help solve the problem of supply to the STEM industries. In addition to solving the STEM skills gap, there is evidence that more diverse teams perform better and that at the very highest level women have a positive impact on organisational success2. One of the ways that has been used extensively to tackle this issue is the use of role models working in STEM to show young people a more diverse range of scientists and engineers. There is evidence to suggest that a large number of young people still hold negative views of scientists and engineers. Many young people though use positive words to describe scientists (eg useful, clever, helpful, creative) but still do not self-identify as someone who could do science. They feel strongly that careers in STEM are ‘not for people like me’

Evaluating the long term impact of live science demonstrations in an interactive science show

Science shows are a popular format for communicating science that are used widely across the world, yet there is little literature about the long-term impact they may have. This research investigated the short- and long-term impact of a specific science show called ‘Music to your ears’, which was written and performed throughout the UK for students aged 11-16 years on behalf of the Institute of Physics. The impact is measured using the immediate reaction to the show, the number (and type) of demonstrations that were recalled long-term, and the application of any memories since seeing the show. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered using questionnaires immediately after the show and from focus groups that were held two and a half years later. In addition, interviews with professional presenters were conducted to allow for triangulation of data. Five science demonstration categories were developed to describe the essence of a demonstration; curiosity (C), human (H), analogy (A), mechanics (M) and phenomena (P). These categories were then used as a framework to discover which had the biggest impact over a long period of time. It was found that even after two and a half years, almost 25% of demonstrations from the show could be recalled without prompting. When prompted with verbal and visual clues, the group tested could recall more than 50% of the demonstrations from the original show.. In addition, around 9% of the demonstrations were recalled in an alternative context to the show, suggesting that some cognitive processing may be happening with the most memorable elements of the show

People Like Me Evaluation Report

People Like Me is an intervention to support the increase of women and girls into STEM education and careers. As such it sits in a long tradition of efforts - in the UK and globally - to tackle gender inequality in the study of STEM subjects, and leading to employment/careers in the scientific, engineering and technology sectors. People Like Me is both a resource and a strategy with a number of potential points of impact. At the core is the concept that raising awareness of the range of possible careers and jobs in STEM will encourage girls to continue with studying science subjects in school, and also aspire to careers in these sectors. This report is the outcome of an independent evaluation carried out by the Open University into the impact and effectiveness of the intervention

Evaluating the short-term and long-term impact of an interactive science show

Science shows as a medium for communicating science are used widely across the UK, yet there is little literature about the long-term impact they may have. This longitudinal study looks at the short-term and long-term impact of the science show Music to Your Ears, which was initially performed throughout the UK on behalf of the Institute of Physics in 2002, and which has since been offered at schools and events through the enterprise Science Made Simple. The impact was measured using the immediate reaction to the show, the number (and type) of demonstrations (demos) recalled over the long term, and the applied use of any memories from the show. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered using questionnaires immediately after the show and focus groups held two and a half years later. To enrich the data, and minimize bias, interviews with professional science presenters were also included in the data analysis. Data from the questionnaires were used to develop a framework of five demonstration categories to describe their essence, or main purpose. The categories used in this study were: curiosity (C), human (H), analogy (A), mechanics (M) and phenomena (P). It was found that even after two and a half years, almost 25 per cent of demos from the show could be recalled without prompting. When prompted with verbal and visual clues, over 50 per cent of the demos from the show could be recalled by the group tested. In addition, around 9 per cent of the demos were recalled and related to an alternative context to the show, suggesting that some cognitive processing may have happened with the most memorable elements of the show. The ‘curiosity’ type of demo was found to be the most memorable in both the short term and long term

Women in physics in the United Kingdom : Successes, challenges, and wider diversity

Progress is being made in improving the environment for women in physics in the United Kingdom, although the proportion of women in the subject remains stubbornly low. Several initiatives have been launched to help encourage girls enter the field and to retain women. The sector is starting to target broader aspects of equality, diversity, and inclusion

Identifying educator behaviours for high quality verbal feedback in health professions education: literature review and expert refinement

Background Health professions education is characterised by work-based learning and relies on effective verbal feedback. However the literature reports problems in feedback practice, including lack of both learner engagement and explicit strategies for improving performance. It is not clear what constitutes high quality, learner-centred feedback or how educators can promote it. We hoped to enhance feedback in clinical practice by distinguishing the elements of an educator’s role in feedback considered to influence learner outcomes, then develop descriptions of observable educator behaviours that exemplify them. Methods An extensive literature review was conducted to identify i) information substantiating specific components of an educator’s role in feedback asserted to have an important influence on learner outcomes and ii) verbal feedback instruments in health professions education, that may describe important educator activities in effective feedback. This information was used to construct a list of elements thought to be important in effective feedback. Based on these elements, descriptions of observable educator behaviours that represent effective feedback were developed and refined during three rounds of a Delphi process and a face-to-face meeting with experts across the health professions and education. Results The review identified more than 170 relevant articles (involving health professions, education, psychology and business literature) and ten verbal feedback instruments in health professions education (plus modified versions). Eighteen distinct elements of an educator’s role in effective feedback were delineated. Twenty five descriptions of educator behaviours that align with the elements were ratified by the expert panel. Conclusions This research clarifies the distinct elements of an educator’s role in feedback considered to enhance learner outcomes. The corresponding set of observable educator behaviours aim to describe how an educator could engage, motivate and enable a learner to improve. This creates the foundation for developing a method to systematically evaluate the impact of verbal feedback on learner performance

バレイショ近縁種における種の分化 XIII. S.acaule X S.demissumより得た7倍雑種の染色体行動と両親ゲノムの類縁関係

中央アンデス産Acaulia群4倍種S. acaule (acl, 2n=48)とメキシコ産Demissa群6倍種S. demissum (dms, 2n=72)のゲノムの類縁関係を明らかにするために, 前者を母本として得た7倍雑種(2n=84)の還元分裂における染色体行動と稔性を調べた。以下その結果を要約する。両種間の交雑は極めて困難で, aclを母とした時のみ受粉花数当り0.02の低率で雑種が得られたにすぎない。得られた雑種は, 両親との形態的比較から, aclの非還元性卵とdmsの還元性花粉の受精に起因するものと推定された。この雑種の第1中期における染色体対合行動は甚だしく多様であったが, その対合型のモードは(12)_+(20)_+8_I, その平均対合頻度は(0.18)_V+(1.11)_+(11.73)_+(18.11)_+(7.26)_Iで, 著しく高頻度の3価形成を示す点が特徴的であった。このような対合行動はその後の染色体行動にも反映し, 第1後期では観察細胞のすべてに平均4.8の遅滞染色体がみられ, 第2中期では94%の細胞が分散染色体を示し, 数的平衡核板頻度は0.6%にすぎなかった。稔性は極めて低く, 調査花粉粒数の27%が一見正常であったが, 自殖及び戻交配のいずれにおいても全く種子を生じなかった。上記の観察結果, 特に高頻度で出現した3価染色体の成因を考察して次の知見を得た。すでにaclはAAA^aA^a, dmsはA^dA^dC_1C_1C_2C_2のゲノム型をもつことが知られているので, 当雑種のゲノム型はAAA^aA^aA^dC_1C_2となる。A^dゲノムは若干の構造的差異はもつもののAゲノム群に属することも知られている。したがって, 当雑種にみられる3価形成は, 主に, aclからのAAとdmsからのA^dの3ゲノム間の染色体対合に由来すると推論でき, 両種はこれらのゲノムの相同性によって相互に関係づけられているものと考えられる。 / Meiotic behavior and fertility were studied in a heptaploid F_1 hybrid (2n=84) obtained from crossing S. acaule (acl, 2n=48) with S. demissum (dms, 2n=72), with the aim of assessing a genomic relationship between the parent species. Crossability between the two species was very low, the number of hybrid plants per pollination being only 0.02. Morphological evidence indicated that the hybrid arose through the union of an unreduced egg of acl and a reduced pollen grain of dms. The hybrid had the mean pairing frequency of (0.18)_V+(1.11)_+(11.73)_+(18.11)_+(7.26)_I per cell at metaphase I, with (12)_+(20)_+8_I as the modal configuration. Its subsequent behaviors were extremely irregular, showing several laggards in all the cells and chromatid bridges in occasional cells at anaphase I and also scattered chromosomes in 94% of the cells at metaphase II. The hybrid gave only 27% stainable pollen and no seed either on selfing or on backcrossing with both parents. The pattern of chromosome pairing found in the hybrid was interpreted in terms of genomic relationship between both parent species. From this, it was suggested that one (A) of the two genomes (designated AA^a) which acl possess in its gametes seems to be closely similar to, but not identical with, one (A^d) of the three genomes (A^dC_1C_2) which dms possess in its gemetes