A big part in the efforts against gender inequality isn’t to do with getting people the same wage for the same job (although there is of course that too),  but is actually to do with getting girls more interested in careers where the earning potential is generally higher than other careers. In the case of STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and mathematics’ studies – girls have for a long time been unengaged and uninterested in studying these subjects and pursuing them at higher levels.

Before we can discuss how to get girls more interested in these subjects, to the point that entries into careers which require qualifications in them are more gender-equal, we first need to understand the dynamics involved in why girls react in the way they do. Most studies point towards a few different factors for why this is the case:

• A lack of role models – Most famous people who’ve become famous due to scientific, pioneering work, have been male. The fact that, historically, scientific discovery has been so unequal in terms of gender is discouraging for many; it is a big part of how people form expectations of what they can achieve and what others expect from them.
• Male dominated industry – Starting to work in an industry, for a company that is dominated by males, both in positions of authority and among their peers, is something that people can find intimidating. This principle works both ways; men working in female dominated industries often encounter a bit of a barrier between themselves and everyone else.
• A lack of encouragement from authority figures – In the same way that a lack of role models influences women negatively in terms of their interest in STEM subjects, the principle behind this also influences those in authority figures, both consciously and subconsciously; the whole world overtly and subliminally reinforces stereotypes in everyone of us, and whether you consciously or subconsciously observe these stereotypes, they can impact the behaviour you encourage and discourage, and the lack of understanding of this principle among many authority figures can also be a factor in the uptake of STEM subjects.

Once you understand what these mean regarding the international efforts by school boards to encourage girls to take on STEM subjects, it becomes clear that, in order to buck the trend, creating a positive view will require the teaching community and parents generally to enforce positive views on STEM. In practice, this will require teachers to make a conscious attempt to react positively to young girls’ interests in the sciences, and to try to maintain that positivity throughout their academic life.

Implementing these changes could potentially be a problem. It can be difficult to change how an entire society functions, particularly when many people expect it to change overnight, but everything needs to start somewhere. It looks like the best place to start trying to get people and young girls in particular to change their views on STEM subjects is to make sure that teachers treat their students equally, regardless of their gender.

An interesting new scheme has come out of Ontario, with the potential to spread across the nation and the world, which is to merge childcare facilities and schools together. This has been considered and agreed upon with the assumption that allowing the children some sense of continuity, during the switch from child-care to kindergarten, could help with their adjustment to their life in education. Already we’ve seen how places in the UK and USA are considering to adopt similar strategies.

One of the principle reasons for why this new strategy is being undertaken is because of the massive increase in demand for childcare. As more and more families are having to make the decision at early periods in their child’s lives to return to work, the demand for childcare has of course increased.

Having childcare facilities in schools is helpful for children’s development, but it is also useful for teachers too, because they will be able to rely upon close childcare for their own children. Many large businesses and corporations already provide these types of services for their staff, but this is the first time schools have effectively done the same thing.

Deciding upon where to study for higher education is, for many young adults, the most important decision they’ve ever made. It is at the very least a stressful decision because of this, but in addition it is made difficult by the number of competing University rankings’ lists which are produced every year.

University Rankings

Looking at rankings can give you a false impression of which university is actually the best or among the best in the world. This is mainly because many of the organisations who produce these rankings use highly subjective data. The one considered to be the most objective is usually the Shanghai rankings, which, although more objective than others, is still skewed towards the success in hard sciences.

Often times, it is better to look at other rankings, such as the rankings of student satisfaction, or employability, and then decide depending upon which aspect of your schooling you consider most important.

University used to be something that people rarely went to, but for the last twenty years or so, it has come to be viewed as a right of passage. Whether or not it is right for all people is doubtful however, although at the very least it is necessary for a number of different industries.

The situation as it stands right now is that millions of young adults around the world enter university every year, but unless you’ve got a very clear strategy of where you want to work and in what field, then you could end up wasting your money and time on university studying. This time could be better spent learning a vocational career in an apprenticeship like situation, or just in work.

Moving to the UK to work as a teacher has a fair number of implications that you need to be aware of. What you need to bear in mind when you emigrate to a foreign country to work as a teacher is that you’re not just going to be exposed to a new culture but also a whole new employment system and a different style of education you’ll need to adapt to. You may also need to get re-qualified for a teaching position before you’ll be able to take a position as a teacher in a school.

One of the best things that you can do when moving to foreign country is to join groups which offer advice, support and people to socialise with before you even arrive. This can be done through the various ex-pat associations that you’ll find in your new home. If you get in touch with a teaching recruitment agency in Canada recruiting teachers to work in the UK, then they should also be able to help you in this area too.

The UK, like a lot of places, goes through tremendous efforts to encourage students from some of the top universities in the world to enter a career in teaching at state schools (in every other country known as public and, this time anyway, it has worked.

Over the last twelve years, the number of students from either Oxford or Cambridge (the top two universities in the UK) working as teachers has nearly doubled, and the profession is the most common career for all Oxford graduates.

While this is all a good thing, the evidence still shows that teachers from these schools are more than 3 times as likely to work in an independent school than a state run school, although the gap between the two has lessened.

The UK has introduced a number of benefits for skilled people to become teachers, including higher wages, bursaries for their university training and more. All of this has seen a marked increase in the number of students from top universities becoming teachers.

Finding highly skilled teachers can be quite difficult. This is basically down to the relatively low pay people can expect to receive for teaching in certain areas, such as those whom have degrees in maths and sciences (where careers in industry with these skills can pay considerably more). Often times what ends up happening is lower skilled individuals end up taking on careers in the teaching profession, which sometimes translates into worse standards in education in those subjects.

There are things that can and in some cases are being done to encourage some of the more highly skilled math and science university students to enter a career in teaching, including additional funding for their university degrees. This system is reminiscent of what is offered by the military for certain professions (such as a medical education), whereby additional funding is supplied to their education in return for a commitment of a set period. So, by agreeing to become a teacher for a few years, you could end up receiving a significant contribution to your own education.

If you are someone who enjoys travelling, and have a desire to teach or to help students abroad, then pursuing overseas teaching jobs may be a great option for you. Now is also a great time to do so, because the market is booming for teachers overseas. There are many great reasons that providing overseas education is a great opportunity for you to grow as a person, as well as professionally. There are also endless benefits for the children whose lives you are influencing. With that being said, here are 4 great reasons why you should consider teaching abroad!

1. Prime Benefits

You could very well land a decent salary with a great benefits package if you choose to teach in a foreign country. Your financial benefits may include housing, health insurance, retirement funds, and additional allowances. Not to mention, teaching abroad is a great resume booster for the new graduate teachers, students, or those who are looking for a change of pace, or career enhancement. Demonstrating that you are flexible and adaptable to change is a major advantage in your career. (more…)

An interesting idea has been put forward that argues that one day it may be a good idea to actually allow students to use search engines during exams. This of course has a number of interesting implications and would certainly require a complete overhaul in the way exams are constructed.

Exams serves the function of examining somebody’s capabilities pertaining to a specific set of skills or a specific subject matter. It does this by testing you on two different areas; your ability to memorise relevant facts and the degree to which you understand those facts, their implications and potentially on how they can be implemented. If we were to allow the use of search engines and therefore knowledge databases such as wikipedia, you almost entirely eliminate the need to memorise facts, leaving only the ability to test based upon their understanding of those facts.

The arguments for and against basically stem from a discussion over how important memorising facts is, now that everyone has access to limitless information at any time. Those against will argue that memorising facts is still an important part of every role everywhere, while those for argue that this may not be the case, and knowing facts doesn’t necessarily indicate competency.

There is no doubt that one of the most important professions to any industrialised society is teaching, which is one of the reasons why there will always be a demand for more teachers. This offers great job security to people, but there are a number of other reasons why a career in teaching may be right for you.

Teaching offers an above average starting wage, and the skills you learn to be able to teach a classroom and the experience you gain from just the first few years are applicable in a lot of other careers.

A lot of careers require you to constantly keep your skills up to date, which can cost money. This is not the case with teaching though, as the government will offer you plenty of opportunities to learn new techniques.

There are a lot of opportunities for teachers to advance there career as well, with perhaps your first position as an assistant teacher,you can then move all the way up the ladder to be a Head teacher / principal, or perhaps the head of a department. This is accompanied by a massive increase in wage as well, with many teachers in the UK ending their careers earning in excess of £40,000, and head teachers earning over £100,000.