Students at Comberton Village College got the chance to learn about Women in Science during a Careers Carousel held to coincide with British Science Week. The aim of the event was to encourage the girls from years 7-13 to consider sciences, technology, engineering and maths as a careers option available to them.
Meeting the professionals
The students met volunteers from a broad range of organistions, including MediaTek, ProductLife Group, Mundipharma, Babraham Institute, Inivata, Mott MacDonald, MathWorks, Lucy Cavendish College, the Institute of Astronomy and the MRC. Working in collaboration with the school, the event was organised by Form the Future.
Guest speaker Professor Christine Watson, Vice Principal of Newham College Cambridge, introduced the afternoon by speaking to the students about her own experience of a career working in biological and medical science. She went on to encourage them to pursue the many exciting streams to follow across the range of STEM-linked careers and employment.
Inspiring the next generation
Nadine Malcolm, Acting Head of Science at Comberton Village College, said, “As part of Science Week, we were really keen to encourage our female students, as well as their male counterparts, to consider a career in STEM. This event provided an ideal platform to do this. Our students really benefitted from the experience and were able to reflect on their personal career choices.”
Emily Jenkins, General Manager UK, ProductLife Group, commented, “As a volunteer at this event it was a great privilege to meet so many female students who were engaged in science at school and looking to follow a future career within STEM. It was a real opportunity to help support these students in understanding the wide range of career opportunities within the science industry which they will hopefully go on to pursue.”
Nimisha Kumari, PhD/Doctoral student at the Institute of Astronomy, added, “This event was an outstanding initiative, which provided an opportunity for young girls to interact with women in STEM fields. Beside raising awareness of the plethora of STEM careers, this event also contributed to improving the visibility of women scientists. As a volunteer, I was inspired by the enthusiasm and curiosity of students.”
Michaela Eschbach, Director of Form the Future, concluded by noting, “This was an excellent event which gave students the opportunity to learn about different STEM careers. There was a real buzz to the event and it was fantastic to see the volunteers inspiring the students to consider science as a career choice and motivating them to succeed in the coming months.”
As part of the event, students also had the opportunity to produce a poster relating to an aspect of science which interested them. The posters were displayed at the event and the volunteers helped to judge the posters on the day. Winners of the poster competition are:
1st prize Jess Murphy – year 13
Runner up Rebecca Sutton – year 12
1st prize Zoe Norgett – year 11
Runner up Rosie Lewis and Rosie Hazel – year 11
1st prize Lily Goodwin – year 8
Runner up Oona Lonergan – year 8
