You may already have “travelled” through space and beyond with stars such as Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar or calculated one too many significant maths equations with Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything. But what if you could actually play a role in the field?
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) have gained popularity as we understand their vital role in our lives. The agents in the field quite literally have the power to change life as we know it today. They explore, try to answer tough questions, understand and invent. We live in times where we imagine worlds never witnessed, travelling through universes, watching one too many films about space exploration, mathematicians, or engineers that excite us. Yet, if the movies alone do not entice you enough, buckle up as you are about to find all the more compelling reasons to study STEM below!
Why should you study STEM?
Looking at a bigger picture
- Enter the fun and exciting field
Not much can surpass the joy of working in a field you enjoy and love. STEM fields fill you with the joy of exploration and discovery, hands-on experimentation, and rewarding results. As it’s constantly evolving, there’s always something new to learn and explore. Contemplating new ideas and developing them with a team just as passionate as you can truly enrich your life. You will never be bored for sure.
- Partake in building the future
By studying STEM, you enter pioneering fields that hugely impact our world. The problems you address and the solutions you come up with today contribute to tomorrow. Whether working in medicine or robotics, your knowledge could create a lasting impact!
- Feed your curiosity by continuously learning
Entering this field means a constant flow of information. There’s always something more to explore within the topic that fascinates you, and the more questions you ask, the more you learn. You constantly push boundaries and answer big questions. By tackling new or old ideas, you get to always learn something new. This knowledge helps you grow and develop solutions of your own.
- Stay up-to-date
The field is constantly evolving and is greatly influencing our day-to-day lives. By entering STEM, you are taking a front-row seat to watch it all happen - and be a part of it! From space explorations to advanced healthcare and tech innovations, you will have a thing or two to share at a dinner table when the topics run out.
- Be a resourceful asset in any field by increasing your tech-savviness
By receiving a STEM education, you bring significant knowledge, so you become an attractive candidate for global companies. The practices are becoming heavily dependent on technology, and AI is gaining popularity. Thus, with the knowledge you acquire through STEM-related study, you will have less competition in the job market.
- Gain an understanding of the world around you
Reasons to study STEM do not merely include career advancements. It also helps you grow as a person as you start to make sense of the world today - not just imagine futures. Understanding and reflecting on what’s real now, you learn a lot about humanity and your place in it.
Brush up on soft skills
- Hone your creativity by coming up with unique solutions
Don’t believe that creative minds are only the ones in the art world. Creativity is a must in the field of STEM when you have to come up with new solutions and push boundaries to imagine a better future. By tackling a STEM-related study, you are also exercising your creative mind allowing you to come up with solutions.
- Acquire critical and analytical thinking skills by actively engaging with the material
Speaking of coming up with solutions, besides creativity, you have to use your critical and analytical thinking continually. Learning STEM requires logical reasoning, analysing evidence, and critically reflecting on it to make sense of the problem. Through a hands-on, engaging learning experience, you acquire the skills necessary for any role in any field!
- Master problem-solving by constantly evaluating and reflecting
As a result of creativity and effective analytical and critical thinking, you are mastering your problem-solving skills - another must for a constantly changing world. Problem solvers are at the forefront of exciting evolutions, and by entering STEM, you are learning to become one of them.
- Perfect your teamwork skills by being a part of valuable collaborations
Since STEM is a vast sea of information, it’s vital to work on projects with a team that contributes to each others’ knowledge. While you learn continuously, you will never be able to exhaust all that is there to learn. Hence, you will learn how to collaborate with like-minded people that are just as excited and passionate to reach solutions. By studying STEM, you are perfecting your teamwork skills to enter the real world in need of significant collaborations. Many examples of powerful collaborations in STEM led to innovations, proving the power of teamwork - from the Wright brothers who invented aeroplanes to Larry and Sergey revolutionising the world through Google and Jobs and Woz giving us Apple, which dominates telecommunications.
The STEM world is limitless
- Tap into the field’s versatile nature, and don’t limit yourself
As the name itself suggests, STEM encompasses multiple disciplines. Thus, you definitely won’t be limiting yourself when diving into the versatility of it. As the job market evolves, more trends and positions emerge, resulting in numerous opportunities. Are you interested in the tech field? You don’t necessarily have to do computer programming as in today’s tech-dependent world, the element of technology is everywhere. Curious about engineering? It’s one of the broadest disciplines you can explore to enter the industry you’re interested in.
- Find intersections with other sectors and acquire the necessary skills
As a result of its versatile nature, STEM doesn’t limit you to only technical skills within the field but goes beyond. By studying STEM, you’ll find intersections with other sectors and receive transferable skills you’ll need wherever your career path takes you. As mentioned above, you’ll acquire necessary soft skills such as problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking. Besides that, you learn to be organised, efficient, and adaptable in a constantly changing discipline. You’ll be a master of many technical skills, and you’ll have practice in designing, developing, or manufacturing. STEM rewards you with transferable skills that will always come in handy. By studying STEM, you could create a strong CV that will make you an attractive candidate anywhere you wish to apply.
- Erase financial limitations by gaining access to scholarships and funds for the field
Due to the field’s rising popularity and demand, organisations and governments are allocating significant amounts of funding specifically for STEM students. This initiative is to encourage and raise young talents to develop helpful innovations. Scholarships take a considerable burden off your mind, and by choosing STEM, you’ll find many opportunities.
- Explore rewarding networking and mentorship opportunities
Besides funding, you’ll receive other opportunities to assist during and after your studies. There is a plethora of mentoring and professional development opportunities through programmes. Universities worldwide connect you with pioneering and up-and-coming companies in the field that are willing to hire young talents passionate about the discipline. In short, by entering the world of STEM, you’re gaining several benefits, assistance, and opportunities to develop.
- Get hold of abundant resources and tools
During your studies, you won’t just learn theory but acquire hands-on knowledge with many learning tools and resources universities hold for STEM subjects. Additionally, as a professional, you get access to many facilities and funding that lets you bring your ideas to fruition! In essence, you get to be provided by any means necessary and not worry about the limitations while developing, designing, calculating, or manufacturing.
- Increase your employability due to the field’s high demand and versatility
Since STEM is a highly demanded and versatile subject, you will not have a problem finding a job. With the rapid growth of job opportunities, your employability is increased, especially in topics that have become the priority today, including sustainable living options, smart homes, cars, or AI-powered technology. STEM-related job roles are increasing, so you can almost pick and choose which one suits you best.
- Gain financial stability
As a result of the increase in demand and employability, you will also gain financial stability. Many high-paying jobs are within STEM-related positions, and as its gaining more importance, the average salary even keeps growing. Thus, if you had to take student loans during your studies, you need not worry about paying them back!
- Make your career future-proof
Consequently, STEM-related jobs also provide you with job security and overall stability. The need for STEM professionals is only growing, so it’s not likely anytime soon for the positions to be deemed obsolete. Furthermore, by studying and practising STEM, you are acquiring future-proof skills that no imagined dystopian future (like robots taking over) can take away as you learn to work and understand not just technology but the world around you, how it works and what you need to do to have a better future.
- Learn from (and maybe even meet!) role models in the field
Okay, maybe you won’t necessarily meet Elon Musk right away. Yet, you not only learn about innovative people of the past but will be meeting innovative people of today. There are too many role models in the field that have thought and keep imagining worlds in exciting ways. Growing and working in STEM with many creative minds and ideas surrounding you encourages your innovative thinking.
- Opportunity to cross boundaries and contribute internationally
As you’re working on important topics of the world, it’s no surprise that by studying STEM, you get to contribute internationally. STEM truly has no boundaries, and it includes physical ones. So if you’re looking for a job that lets you travel and move to a different country, STEM-related jobs are your best bet. With the field expanding, you can find opportunities from the US to Belgium, Switzerland, India, China, and other countries of choice.
You can also browse College Life Work for international jobs related to (data) sciences, engineering, AI, and more.
One small step for you and a giant leap for humanity
- Take a seat at the table for significant ethical considerations
With countless advancements, there always comes a question of ethics. What is a better way to address ethical implications than active participation in the discussion? Taking responsibility that comes with advancements in the field is crucial, and by taking a seat at the table, you get the power to address and take steps to solve the issues.
- Become an innovator yourself
With all the resources and assistance available, you can make valuable contributions, leading to innovations. You get inspired by the many examples and get fascinated by past discoveries, and with time and acquired knowledge, you can innovate the aspects of life you care about. Have you been concerned about healthcare? Perhaps, sustainability? Studying STEM equips you with everything you need!
- Make a positive impact on society by developing healthcare
Evolving healthcare remains one of the significant human rights concerns. The abundant knowledge from STEM professionals is needed to make advancements that help with more efficient and accurate diagnostics, disease prevention, and patient care. By studying STEM, you can make a positive impact on healthcare and, thus, on humanity.
[Further reading: 23 Reasons to Study AI to explore how AI can influence healthcare for the better.]
- Take significant steps in solving the climate crisis
Sustainability is at the heart of STEM as the climate crisis is an alarming issue humanity faces today. If you wish to make a positive environmental impact, STEM education can give you the knowledge and tools to find sustainable solutions. By educating yourself, you could find practices that do not harm the environment - and maybe teach and inspire others!
[Further reading: 23 Reasons to Study AI to read how AI contributes to combating climate crisis]
- Close minority and gender gap in the field
The STEM field is still struggling with a stark minority and gender gap. Even though there were discussions and actions to encourage and represent women in STEM, a significant gap still exists. In the same way, black and hispanic workers are underrepresented both in terms of earning a degree in STEM and in the job market. The need for representation is crucial as today’s issues require the voices of all to be solved. Regardless of your position in society, by entering the field of STEM, you can address and take steps to close the gap.
Conclusion
Studying STEM can prove to be one of the most rewarding endeavours. Whether you choose to study STEM to make sense of the world, grow personally, or bring about a change in the world, STEM offers you opportunities where even the sky is not the limit. You may not be able to establish contact with aliens just yet but trust it to be exciting regardless.
Are you thinking of entering the field of STEM? Let us know your reasons below!
