Abstract:
In an era of rapid disruption, how can the STEM community help shape Early Years–Grade 12 education to foster trust in science and cultivate diverse talent across Canada? This session will examine trends in STEM participation and key influences: science identity, role models, youth values, future-focused skills, engagement barriers, education policy, curriculum, AI, and misinformation. Join us to explore actionable, systemic solutions that can be driven by the STEM ecosystem to build a more inclusive, trusted, and future-ready science culture.

Summary of Conversations

The discussion focused on the urgent need to transform STEM education to address declining youth STEM skills  and shifting societal needs. Participants highlighted the disconnect between high school innovation, which increasingly favors collaborative, inquiry-based learning, and rigid post-secondary admission requirements that result in many students dropping high school STEM, altogether. A major theme was shifting from pure knowledge retention to fostering science identity, literacy, and belonging, leveraging the recent changes to the international PISA 2025 Science test. Participants emphasized the importance of destigmatizing college and trade pathways, advocating for competency-based models and inter-disciplinary courses over traditional subject requirements. Furthermore, the conversation underscored the necessity of making STEM culturally relevant and “magical” early on to build trust and prevent students from disengaging due to a lack of perceived relevance or rigid academic barriers.

Take Away Messages/Current Status of Challenges

• Global Decline and Assessment Shift: International assessments reveal a global decline in science scores, prompting a shift in frameworks toward prioritizing science identity, literacy, and environmental sustainability over rote knowledge to foster a sense of belonging and build STEM skills.
• Educational Disconnect: A significant tension exists between high school environments, which increasingly support collaborative, inquiry-based learning, and university settings that rely on large, impersonal lectures and rigid entrance requirements.
• The “Weeding Out” Culture: Post-secondary institutions often treat introductory STEM courses as barriers designed to fail large percentages of students, effectively crushing the enthusiasm of those who initially identified as capable in science.
• Stigmatization of Applied Pathways: Societal bias persistently undervalues college and apprenticeship pathways, failing to recognize that these programs are often highly technological, rigorous, and directly aligned with industry needs.
• Lack of Perceived Relevance: Students frequently disengage from science curricula because they lack understanding of its practical purpose, face a shortage of diverse role models, and struggle to see how the material applies to their daily lives.
• Hierarchy of Literacies: Within the K-12 system, particularly up to grade 8, mathematics and language literacy are systematically prioritized, often leaving science literacy undervalued despite its necessity for societal problem-solving.
• Inflexible Admission Standards: Current university admission processes are overly conservative, relying on lists of specific prerequisite courses rather than assessing the actual competencies or potential required for success in a given field.
• Cultural and Values Misalignment: Science education sometimes fails to connect technical skills with human values or cultural ethics, such as Indigenous land-based perspectives, which can alienate students who do not fit specific outdoor or traditional stereotypes.

Recommendations/Next Steps

• Implement Competency-Based Admissions: Institutions should transition away from strict prerequisite course lists and instead adopt competency-based admission models that assess whether students possess the specific skills, such as critical thinking or basic numeracy, needed for their chosen field.
• Prioritize Relevant, Interesting and Authentic Learning Early: Post-secondary curriculums should be restructured to introduce engaging, complex, and “magical” scientific concepts in the first year to hook students, rather than reserving interesting material for later years.
• Create a Seamless Educational Continuum: High schools, colleges, and universities must build stronger partnerships to create a clear continuum that exposes students to all available options and facilitates smoother transitions between educational levels.
• Elevate Science Literacy: The education sector needs to elevate the status of science literacy to equal that of math and language, treating it as a critical societal competency required for making informed decisions.
• Clarify Purpose and Career Relevance: Educators must actively engage high school students by explicitly demonstrating the purpose of math and science through authentic activities linked to a wide array of future careers, including trades and technology.
• Universal Exposure to Pathways: All students should be systematically exposed to every post-secondary option—including university, college, and apprenticeships—to dismantle biases and ensure they understand the full range of STEM opportunities available.
• Recognize Micro-Competencies: The employment and education markets should create space to validate and valorize micro-credentials and specific skill sets, ensuring alignment from K-12 training through to workforce requirements.
• Leverage Global Assessment Changes: Educators and policymakers should use the shifting frameworks of international assessments like PISA as a strategic “bellwether” and justification to drive necessary curriculum reforms and embrace innovation in the classroom.