The Flying Start Challenge (FSC) is a STEM outreach initiative that aims to ignite young people’s interest in STEM subjects, so they can develop the necessary skills to pursue and succeed in a STEM career. The challenge is centred around teaching fundamental engineering skills through the design and build of a hand-launched glider made from sustainable materials, so that it will fly as far and as straight as possible.
New research carried out by the University College London (UCL) in their ‘ASPIRES’ study seems to confirm that interactive events such as these can have a lasting impact on young people’s aspirations. The study confirms that the ages between 10 and 14 are a ‘critical window’ for forging their STEM identity. The long-term study has tracked thousands of students from age 10 upwards, revealing that consistent STEM mentoring during the five-year period between 10 and 14 is fundamental to shaping STEM identities for future careers. Findings confirm that if a teenager hasn’t developed a solid STEM identity by the end of their early adolescence, they are statistically much less likely to pursue it later regardless of their grades, leading to a STEM aspiration gap.
It is a finding that is no surprise to Leonardo STEM mentor and Flying Start Challenge lead Eric Epps. Eric, who has been a STEM mentor since joining the company’s Aerospace Mechanical Engineering graduate programme two years ago, has observed first-hand the changes in young people participating in the challenge.
Eric said: “At the beginning of the mentoring programme where we visit the students at their school, they are intrigued by the creative side of the design and innovation. But by the end, their confidence in their engineering skills has grown to such a degree that they become competitive and want to find ways to modify their design to make improvements to their glider’s performance. That is the very essence of what makes an engineer and they’re getting a crucial grounding in that mindset.”
Since November last year, a team of volunteers from the graduate and apprentice community at Leonardo in Yeovil has been mentoring students from schools across the region on a weekly basis. The schools include: Beaminster School, Bucklers Mead School, Crispins School, Fairmead School, Gillingham School, Holyrood School, Huish Episcopi School, Preston School, Stanchester School, Sturminster School, Thomas Hardye School, and Wadham School. Students were led through techniques to master design, flight physics and engineering to construct their gliders for the regional final yesterday.
Eric added: “I have two friends who are also coworkers, one a graduate and the other an apprentice, and they are exceptional professionals who first learned about engineering through the Flying Start Challenge and now they are mentoring students themselves. What really makes the difference is that drumbeat of regular school visits for face-to-face mentoring, that transforms this challenge from an event to an ongoing interactive experience that helps them see themselves as engineers. We aren’t just teaching young people how to build gliders, we are showing them that they are engineers who belong in STEM.”