The See Me Project (originally See Women)

The See Me Project (originally See Women)

Inspiring young people from diverse backgrounds to study more STEM subjects by celebrating cultural, ethnic, sexual, gender and ability diversity within the STEM community. Tackling the UK’s shortage of engineers.

Partners
  • Siemens
  • Girls’ Schools Association (GSA)
  • Science presenter Fran Scott
  • GSA schools & their local state schools
Objective

SeeMe, created by Siemens and BBC science presenter Fran Scott, is both an interactive, curriculum-based online digital workshop and a demonstration-filled stage show. The show explores ground-breaking contributions to science, technology engineering and maths (STEM), taking the audience on a journey into the world of STEM with captivating live stage experiments. Live performances of the stage show are currently on-hold, but the digital workshop is perfect during COVID times.

SeeMe celebrates cultural, ethnic, sexual, gender and ability diversity within the STEM community; discusses stereotypes and misconceptions; and, explores some of the perceived barriers to pursuing a STEM career. Ultimately it highlights how diverse teams are more likely to reach technological breakthroughs and innovation.

SeeMe was first launched as SeeWomen on International Women’s Day 2016 as part of a unique collaboration with the Girls’ Schools Association. The aim of SeeWomen was to promote gender diversity in STEM industries by introducing audiences to the achievements of female leaders in STEM. It drew attention to female role models and addressed some of the gender stereotypes and misconceptions about engineering.

But gender diversity is only part of the story.  In a world where the UK needs 203,000 people with Level 3+ engineering skills each year to meet demand, it is vital that Siemens continues to highlight role models from a diverse variety of identities and backgrounds; increasing the opportunity for young people to see and recognise people like themselves in exciting and challenging careers.

SeeMe also shares Siemens resources and contacts with teachers so they can run similar events of their own.

Impact

To date, the project has reached over 4,000 young people from state and independent schools.

Impact evaluation shows that, before attending the live stage show, 47% of girls said they don’t know what job/career they want before attending. After attending the stage show, 69.2% said they could imagine themselves in a STEM career, 78.4% felt inspired to find out more about STEM careers, and 76.4% said they now know more about the range of different STEM careers available.

The SeeMe initiative has won and been shortlisted for a number of awards:

  • 2021 RateMyApprenticeship Awards – winner of the Best Diversity Initiative Award
  • 2021 World Skills UK Diversity & Inclusion Heroes Awards – winner, large employer campaign of the year
  • 2019 STEM Inspiration Awards – winner for outstanding contribution for widening participation, diversity and inclusion in STEM
  • 2019 Social Mobility Awards – shortlisted

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