Is it worth it?

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Permalink Reply by Jon Copley on November 17, 2008 at 17:03

In my experience, getting involved in schools outreach doesn't have to take up a huge amount of time. There are often established programmes that you can get involved in - here's one at my own institution, for example, that only involves an hour or couple of hours once in a while.

As to whether it is worth the effort, I have to say a very big "yes". If you ask a class of eleven year-olds what they want to be when they grow up, most of the boys say "footballers". Most of the girls say "singer" or "model". A fair few of both just say "famous"! Maybe two out of thirty say "scientist" - and those are often children who want to become vets because they love animals.

The reason for this is the influence that our "celebrity culture" has in shaping the aspirations of children from the age of eight onwards. Now I can't see scientists filling the pages of "Heat" magazine in the near future to counteract that - so it is vitally important that scientists go into schools, to share their passion for what they do and provide some real role models. Science can take you to amazing places, whether you follow it as a career or just study it a bit further for interest. And unfortunately, the current curriculum and testing system frankly does nothing to promote it. But we can.