Dr Stephen Breslin always wanted to be an engineer, he told an audience on Wednesday 1 June at the Glasgow Science Centre, launching College Development Network’s Emporium: Inspiring Ideas 2016, a two week festival of inspiring professional learning. CEO of the Glasgow Science Centre, Dr Breslin explored how young people without his own inherent passion for a STEM subject can be enthused by science and technology.
The Glasgow Science Centre creates an experience for its visitors and he believes the impact of that in terms of how it makes people feel is more important than any specific piece of learning they acquire during their visit. He seeks to excite and engage visitors and to stimulate their thinking and curiosity. ‘I want that feeling to last when people leave’, he said. ‘We are effectively selling science, we are trying to change hearts and minds. We’re trying to change attitudes.’ The analogy for education is clear.
‘We want to encourage the next generation of scientists and engineers …. and that’s all about enjoyment. To enjoy being immersed in science.’
The skills shortage is something we talk about incessantly, said Dr Breslin, ‘and we talk about it incessantly because it is a critical issue that is getting worse’. Economic prosperity, he said, is directly linked to our ability to innovate and to create, ‘which is directly linked to our capacity in science and engineering.’
He asked, does the fact that industry needs scientists and engineers motivate young people? ‘Industry always talks about its needs, but I like to flip it over and think about what we need for our young people and what kind of skills are they going to need.’
Technology is changing the work place rapidly and in ways we’ve never experienced before, he said. ‘We have moved from technology that has helped us and automated routine functions to technology that is smart enough to automate non-routine and cognitive functions – and that has big implications. One of the implications is that you require fewer people to generate wealth and value.’
Dr Breslin explained that studies show there is job growth in non-routine manual jobs and also in the non-route cognitive area. ‘But there’s this effect of “hollowing out the middle”. So if you’re doing a routine manual job then there’s a very high risk that your job will be replaced with a computer. But if you are doing a routine cognitive job then there is a similarly high risk that you will be susceptible to replacement by a computer. Professions like accountancy, medicine and law would all fall into that category.’
Qualities that are least susceptible to automation and replacement by computer required a high degree of social skills and creativity, he said. ‘And the good news for us is that STEM jobs require a high degree of creativity and social skills. So if I was trying to motivate a young person about why they should get into this space, it’s this sort of information that I’d be talking them through.
‘We need to have a really hard think about what the portfolio of skills is that we need to equip our young people with so that they take this portfolio of skills forward into jobs that haven’t been created yet but which will give them that resilience and ability to be productive in this uncertain world.’
Watch the Launch of the Emporium: Inspiring Ideas
