“Science Is Important, but Why?” Primary-Age Children’s Lack of Understanding of Why We Study STEM and the Nature of Science Careers

Despite persistent concerns about STEM workforce shortages in the UK, efforts to promote science study and careers have had limited success in translating into aspirations among young people. It is common for young people in Western industrialised societies to be told that it is important that they study science, but the impact of such messaging, particularly among younger children, is poorly understood. Our study asks whether pupils have absorbed the concept that science is important, why they think this is the case, and what knowledge they have of the careers that may follow from science study. Data was collected via interviews and surveys with 255 young people aged 10–11 in the North West of England. A large majority of our cohort agreed that it was important and useful to study science. However, any understanding of why this might be was superficial and circular; science matters to pass exams, gain qualifications, or become a science teacher, rather than being linked to diverse STEM careers, innovation or real-world applications. Pupils’ knowledge of science careers was narrow and stereotypical, dominated by the generic term “scientist”, medical jobs, and a handful of other roles such as astronaut or palaeontologist. Few participants recognised the breadth of science careers outside of roles encountered in daily life or those prominent in the media. These results highlight a disconnect between superficially positive attitudes and a shallow comprehension which fails to connect school science with potential career paths. Our analysis suggests that this mismatch is likely to impact low-SES groups more severely, thus threatening efforts to improve equity in the STEM workforce. We suggest a number of potential contributing factors, and propose a series of recommendations to tackle this deficit, including introducing more careers-relevant content and access to role models into primary school science lessons.