The modern educational learning environment has an increasingly pronounced emphasis on STEM fields. You know intuitively that many future careers will put a high priority on at least some scientific understanding. Perhaps not coincidentally, these science-related jobs are also often many of the most impactful and well-paying.
If encouraging your child into a scientific career is important to you, you may find the most success by introducing them to stimulating career paths that also have a very high impact. But how do you spark a child’s interest in nursing or the pharmaceutical industry when they’d rather color pictures of butterflies and play outside with their friends?
In this article, we take a look at how science-related careers can appeal to children of all ages.
First, What Do We Mean by Exposure?
Exposure to a career is ultimately going to depend on the child’s age and maturity level. There’s not really much of a point in having a five-year-old shadow a nurse for a day, unless that nurse happens to be mom or dad in a “bring your child to work” type scenario.
The key, really, is to prioritize a sense of awareness. Make sure that the child knows these career paths exist and that it is possible for them to pursue them. Connect that knowledge wherever possible with at least a vague understanding of what steps are required to facilitate these goals.
The child doesn’t need to have mapped out a four-year university plan by the time they hit middle school to be considered successful in this process. The goal is small but consistent exposure.
More than anything else, don’t force the issue. Identify what interests your child and emphasize exposure experiences that delight them.
Make Science Fun
First of all, it’s important to remember that so many aspects of scientific exploration are both hands-on and exciting for a child. Science at an early and primitive level could include something as simple as looking for bugs outside or maybe paying special attention to rocks you encounter on a family walk.
Little opportunities to ignite a child’s curiosity are the building blocks of a long-term interest in the sciences. You’ll find as you navigate the world that there are many opportunities for this. Outside play is just one example, but field trips to your local botanical gardens or zoo or even children’s museum will also be full of hands-on ways to connect your child to the sciences.
Also, don’t ignore the benefits of regular educational reading. Children of a certain age are highly encouraged to pursue both fiction and nonfiction in their story time opportunities. There are tons of books designed specifically to make scientific concepts approachable and interesting.
This includes books that highlight the contributions of scientists in a way that is exciting and stimulating for children. Take advantage of the many resources that are already designed to reflect the importance of scientific understanding in a young child’s life. You don’t have to start from scratch. There’s already a ton of stuff out there.
Point Out Cool Jobs
Your child is also going to have regular exposure to scientific careers. When they go to the doctor, they’re interacting with people who have focused their education on the sciences. Ditto the school nurse or the pharmacist.
Not many children wonder on their own about the quickest pathway to becoming a pharmacist, but the fact is that it is an important and well-paying job that can offer the right person a personally and financially rewarding career. This is also true of more obscure careers like that of the toxicologist.
Many people (maybe you?) have never even heard of this job, yet it is crucial for public health. The world of science is full of many such positions.
Put as many interesting jobs on your child’s radar as possible. You’ll find that they’ll actually gravitate to some more than others. Allow them to explore freely.
Help Them Build Confidence
Scientific concepts might not come naturally to every child. That doesn’t mean they’re ill-suited for the sciences. It just means that the learning curve might be steeper than it is for, say, creative pursuits.
Encourage your child to feel confident and comfortable in exploration, even if that means being okay with getting things wrong in the beginning. Because they will. Science is all about asking questions. It’s not always about having the answers to them.
That’s a concept that can be difficult for a child to grasp, particularly if they are used to more instant forms of gratification. You might even find it productive to introduce your children to success stories that are the product of scientific trial and error.
There are interesting stories about scientists trying to do one thing and accomplishing something else entirely. The goal with any experimentation should be to learn and grow. Help your child feel comfortable with the experience without feeling the need to succeed in the traditional context that they might be used to.
Don’t Force It
Finally, respect the fact that your child is going to have their own interests. You like the idea of a career in the sciences, and that’s great. It may or may not be a good fit. Forcing exposure to things they don’t enjoy will probably have the opposite intended effect in the long run.
Point things out, but also allow their interests to wander where they may. A child has many years to figure out what they want to do. Your job as a parent is not necessarily to lead them down any specific path, but rather to make sure they understand what is out there.
Introduce them to lots of options, and be as supportive as you possibly can of whatever path they decide to take.
