STEM subjects and jobs: a longitudinal perspective of attitudes among Key Stage 3 students, 2008 - 2010

The STEM Careers Awareness Timelines initiative was part of Action\ud Programme 8 which ran between 2008 to 2011. The project was undertaken by the\ud Centre for Education and Industry at the University of Warwick, the International\ud Centre for Guidance Studies at the University of Derby and Isinglass Consultancy.\ud The project enlisted 30 schools to pilot the initiatives across England. Nominated\ud school contacts initially assessed their school in relation to delivery of STEM subjects\ud and careers. Through mentoring arrangements and regional events, these schools\ud were then supported through their design and delivery of careers awareness\ud timelines – or programmes of activities within the curriculum - designed to increase\ud the awareness of young people about STEM subjects and related careers options.\ud Surveys of young people were also undertaken that were designed to capture\ud opinions on STEM subjects and thoughts about STEM careers. The first of these\ud surveys (which we refer to as Wave One) took place from September 2008 until\ud March 2009. The second (Wave Two) lasted from September 2010 until February\ud 2011. The staggered approach, focusing two surveys with many of the same\ud questions on the same schools two years apart, allowed for a comparison of attitudes\ud at the beginning and at the end of the project. This longitudinal perspective facilitated\ud an assessment of change both within a cohort and between school years.\ud Wave One of the research generated 4073 completed questionnaires from year\ud seven and year nine students from 27 schools. Wave Two of the research received\ud 2216 responses from a total of 19 of the pilot schools