Exploring engineering at STEAM

Engineering is one of the most male dominated sectors in the UK, with only 12% of women comprising the workforce. To inspire more girls to understand the value of engineering, we worked with Girlguiding Southwest England to create a day at STEAM packed with exciting activities for local Girlguiding units.

The day included an inspiring guest speaker, a collaborative workshop with an engineering toy company and plenty of hands-on activities based around iconic collections in the museum. The day was framed around the rich history of engineering in Swindon and especially the role of women working on the railway site during World War 2.  

The project took eight months to plan, with a core focus on attracting participants from areas of Swindon that experienced multiple indices of deprivation. The STEAM Education Officers worked in close collaboration with Girlguiding Southwest England (GGSWE) and Polydron (the engineering toy company).

A range of resources were created for the event that included an activity guide that Girlguiding Units could deliver with their own units, a custom-made cloth badge created by GGSWE for STEAM Museum and hands-on activities that helped girls learn about the importance of engineering. Polydron also provided (and then later gifted) a wide range of toys that helped participants build structures to understand basic principles of engineering and design.

The event was funded by Wessex Museums Trust, Girlguiding Southwest England with in-kind sponsorship from Polydron.

Our Exploring Engineering Day was designed to:

• Ensure that girls and young women living in Swindon know they are welcomed and valued in our museum.
• Help our staff and volunteers feel confident, knowledgeable, and inclusive when working with audiences who are new to the STEAM Museum.
• Inspire girls and young women about the important role that historic and contemporary advances in engineering can play in their lives.
• Inspire and give girls and young women to take a lead in their own learning.

• We met with the GGSWE team on a regular basis to agree on shared and museum focused outcomes we hoped to achieve from the day.
• We conducted a demographic and economic analysis of population data in the Swindon area. With a priority on areas experiencing more than three Multiple Indices of Deprivation, we rationalised postcode data and asked GGSWE team to target recruitment of units from within these areas.
• STEAM Education team worked closely with GGSWE in the design of the badge and also the design of the activity pack that would be used by units across Swindon.
• STEAM Education team held regular consultation meetings with all collaborative partners and museum staff to ensure that workshops were fully resourced, risk assessed and that safeguarding principles were adhered to.
• Wessex Museums working with GGSWE set out principles for evaluation and feedback using QR codes for forms and capturing data on the day of the event.

Initially we had planned to conduct video interviews with the participants to record experiences on the day. However, it quickly became apparent that many of the participants felt nervous and uncomfortable being recorded on camera. We quickly switched to audio recordings, asking groups and individuals what they liked about events. We also interviewed unit leaders, STEAM Staff and collaborators about their experiences.

82 girls aged from 4 to 18 from units in key target areas attended the day. The interviews revealed that for many participants, this was the first time they had come to the museum. When asked what they were looking forward to at the museum, participants said:

“I think I was just excited to be here, but like interested in because, I just like to learn new things about science.”

“I quite liked the trains because I’m fascinated by engineering.”

For some girls who had visited with their school or family, visiting with their friends from Girlguiding was a profoundly different experience:

“You get to do more different activities. And you get to do it with lots of your friends as well.”

“I think it was just hanging out with my friends whilst exploring technology.”

Unit leaders were impressed with the organisation of the day as well as the activities offered to the participants. The day empowered the girls and helped them in developing their leadership skills. One Brown Owl leader commented that:

“I think they like making things up anyway, so using their imagination they loved doing it. What surprised me was the fact that there were 10 girls there. They had a voting system going on, they had something that you said if you didn’t want to talk at that particular moment.

There are two clear leaders who listen to everybody, and I’ve never seen them function together like that before during a brownie meeting even. So that was really brilliant to see. Very impressed. And what’s lovely is that being at this day, its enabled that kind of self organisation, if you like, of the way they are with each other.”

The STEAM Staff also drew much from the day:

“These are all local young women, local girls, coming here to discover the museum and engineering. I think the thing about guiding is there’s always that inquisitive nature that’s always nurtured in guiding, experiencing new things.”

“Out of the ten, three had been before. So, Swindon natives as well. The community engagement of something like this is brilliant. The girls being here, if they go home and tell one other person about it, one other person could come in.”

“I think it’s so great for them to see this, where people like Ella have come from, if you like. And having had that experience, the women in World War II when the men came back, the jobs went. But it’s just like, well, I’m not going back into the home. I can do this probably better than the men can. That’s just that sort of spark that it gives them.”

• An inspirational guest speaker was integral to creating an aspiring atmosphere. Our guest speaker Ella Podmore MBE was able to connect with the audiences using her own journey and ran age appropriate workshops that presented engineering in a fascinating way.
• A blend of contemporary and heritage engineering stories helped the participants envision themselves as engineers. Key to this was an opening address by STEAM staff about the role women played in World War 2 and the workshop by Ella Podmore who laid out future career pathways.
• Although the activities were well pitched to different ages, it would have been beneficial to provide clear timetables with times and locations for each unit to take part in the various workshops.
• GGSWE had to address much disappointment on social media from Girlguiding Units that had not been invited to the day. Although this did not affect STEAM, GGSWE felt they could have communicated the purpose of the day to regional units in a more timely fashion, indicating that this was a pilot for future days.
• Girlguiding events are a very powerful way to deliver STEM focused days since many girls feel intimidated or excluded in mixed environments.

Girlguiding are keen for this event to be repeated twice a year going forward. We already have two dates for this year in the calendar and will be happy to do the same next year, circumstance permitting. Girlguiding have agreed to fund the events this year so that the girls can come for free again. They will also be encouraging groups to access the pack we have produced online. This will enable units who can’t attend an event at STEAM to deliver activities in their unit meetings so that the girls can still get the STEAM badge.

Sara Stone and Gwen Pontefract

Learning and Engagement Officers at STEAM- Museum of the Great Western Railway

01793 466640

SEducation@swindon.gov.uk