Could you start by telling us a bit about STEM Untapped CIC?

Brought to you by Untapped Innovation, STEM Untapped CIC is a social enterprise empowering, encouraging, and inspiring teens to pursue their interest in studying and working in the Science, Technology, Maths, and Engineering (STEM) industries. Our Untapped partners recognized the lack of access to relatable role models in STEM, which is one of the biggest barriers to retaining girls and other under-represented minorities in STEM. Research from Microsoft supports this and reveals that having a role model is one of the most effective ways to prevent girls from falling out of love with STEM subjects. This, along with our partner's network of brilliant women in STEM, is what inspired our podcast. We primarily host a podcast where students get the opportunity to interview a mentor of their choice from our diverse network of nominated 'role models'. Alongside this, we invite women in STEM to write blogs, film 'day in the life' videos, and feature in events to contribute to our not-for-profit organization, celebrating women and girls who study and work in these roles. Our podcast offers real insight to underrepresented teens, and by generating accessible content, it allows us to celebrate what our network of mentors is up to. This also gives them a platform so they can share what a typical day at work looks like, the highs and lows of their career, what led them on this path, and what advice they would pass on to teenagers. We are passionate about showing the diversity of women, roles, opportunities, and resources available to teens who are interested, and connecting them with accessible role models who are an inspiration to the next generation.

What is the mission and vision of STEM Untapped CIC, and what does your role as the Social Media Manager involve?

The voices of our STEM Untapped student network are at the heart of what we do, and it's important for us that they feel heard and that they are the ones primarily benefiting from our work. This is why we turn to the students themselves to ask who/what they want to see from us. We also team up with other organizations that have the same core values as us on projects that students can participate in and gain experience/skills to help them further their education in their chosen STEM subject. We hope to continue growing and developing relationships with other organizations, and we are all about celebrating, discovering, and resharing.

I (Meg) run the socials for STEM Untapped, which includes managing our Instagram page (@stemuntapped), sharing content to our LinkedIn profile (untapped-innovation), sending out monthly newsletters via email, and designing our website page. With regards to our social media content, I lead the comms with our role models, reaching out to women to get involved and managing what we share each month. I'm also a bit of a sucker for 'behind the scenes' content. Much to my team's aversion, I like to celebrate everyone involved and show what we get up to, whether that's visiting events, sharing resources, or just showing a bit more of our personality.

Could you share some examples of the projects or initiatives that STEM Untapped is currently involved in?

This summer, we teamed up with Nuffield Research Placements to continue our annual collaboration. I mentored four STEM students for their two-week placement. The aim of this project was to generate useful resources, activities, and materials for teachers created by students, for students. We hope that we can scale these lesson plans to offer nationally in the next academic year. The task was for the students to listen to our podcast, then explore and research the topics that interested and inspired them the most, and translate these topics into lesson plans. The lesson plans could either focus on the featured STEM subject and/or career awareness within this subject.

Another recent collaboration began when we were introduced to AfriKids via one of the role models in our network. Amongst all the brilliant work they do, AfriKids empower and educate children in school, and it was their #girlPOWER appeal that really caught our eye. They are on a mission to support girls, improve their access to education in Ghana, and empower them to become the next generation of trailblazing women in STEM. We connected on our shared values and recently supported them for their first 'STEM Clinic' virtual event by reaching out to our network of 'role models' to join the event panel so the AfriKids STEM clinic students could ask them questions and gain insight into their line of work.

To ensure that teen voices are at the heart of what we do, we have our 'Youth Advisory Board' whereby we have quarterly meetings with STEM students to discuss ideas, gain feedback, and see how we can improve and continue to be valuable for them. In return, we offer the students training sessions of their choice, such as 'how to participate meaningfully in meetings' and 'how to write effective personal statements'.

What are your aspirations for the future of STEM Untapped? Are there any upcoming projects or initiatives that you're particularly excited about? Really excitingly, we have just launched our brand-new Ambassador program. We have called upon three of our brilliant role models to represent STEM Untapped and help us to 'pollinate' by spreading the word about our mission, values, and work. Our ambassadors will get to engage in upcoming events, come up with new and fun ways that we can work collaboratively, and we will, of course, shout about the inspiring work they are doing. I'm also really excited to share the lesson plans that the Nuffield placement students brilliantly put together; they were really innovative and provided us with cohesive resources, and it was a very insightful project for me.

I'm looking forward to participating in the upcoming virtual conference with Chance in December, and I hope to continue to build our relationship and collaborate in fun ways as we grow our organizations. We hope to continue to diversify our network of students and role models in every way, joining forces with other people who share the same values, and grow together to celebrate and empower the next generation of STEM students. How can our listeners learn more about STEM Untapped, support its mission, or get involved?

To learn all about what we have achieved so far, I would recommend watching our trailer video which you can find on our website or pinned to the top of our Instagram profile @stemuntapped. Definitely give our podcast a listen (search STEM Untapped on Spotify and podcast platforms) where you will find interviews with Astronomers, Animal Trainers, GPs, Psychologists, Vets, Researchers, our Founders, and much more - let us know which episode is your favorite! On our website, you can find out more about us, read the blogs written by our mentors, find links to all resources we share, and sign up to our mailing list to receive our monthly newsletters.

To get involved... for all social media related inquiries, contact me via emailing [email protected]. Alternatively, if you are a student or someone who works in STEM and wish to interview/be interviewed on our podcast, get in touch with Izzy, our STEM Untapped program manager via emailing [email protected].