This Black Friday and every Black Friday so forth, we're pledging to donate 100% of profits from the 25th-28th of November to In2ScienceUK. Through this pledge, we hope to invest in innovation and ideas that fuel the future.
We talked to In2ScienceUK to find out more about why it's so crucial to support STEM and what your money will help create.
Q: Why was In2ScienceUK started?
A: Based on recent studies there is an annual shortfall of 40,000 STEM skilled workers with the number of future technical jobs forecast to increase – this number will only get higher.
Poverty and social background are huge barriers to progressing to careers within STEM. If students don’t receive the right guidance and support through their schools and personal networks, they may never consider pursuing a career within this sector.
By giving students from disadvantaged backgrounds high-quality opportunities and support at the start of their career journey, In2scienceUK empowers them to achieve their potential and become the next generation of researchers, innovators and pioneers.
Since we were founded in 2010, our aim has been provide people from low income and disadvantaged background an opportunity to gain practical insight into STEM as well as the knowledge and confidence to progress.
Q: What impact has it had on the lives and careers of the young people who've taken part?
A: 75% of all participants progress onto STEM degrees. This is something we're incredibly proud of, as we're not a gifted and talented programme and take students of all levels studying STEM subjects. We've seen young people come through our programme and graduate from university and successfully enter the job market, which is amazing to see.
Q: Why is encouraging students to take an interest in STEM so important?
A: STEM workers typically earn 20% more than people working in other fields, so getting more young people from low-income backgrounds into these professions helps create social mobility and fights economic inequality. Crucially, it also increases the number of UK STEM professionals, a more diverse workforce and increase the overall science capital of the UK, which are vital to our economy and standard of living.
Q: What do you hope to achieve in the future?
A: This year we launched our year-long in2research programme that aims to improve access to postgraduate research degrees and careers for people from low socioeconomic backgrounds. So far, this has been a huge success and we're looking to expanded is in 2023. We're also planning on launching a new careers programme next year, that will further support people from these backgrounds to get STEM degrees, complete their degrees and enter the job market.
Q: What is unseen that you’d like to see?
A: What we'd love to see is someone go through our programme and to eventually become a CEO of a large STEM organisation.
