Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and careers have been an important part of the development of the modern world, however it is important to not discount the importance of the Arts in providing a well rounded education and career. When adding Arts to your education and career it now becomes STEAM, several studies have shown that the addition of the arts (music, theater, painting, writing, , architecture, etc) to STEM can :
- Improve math and reading scores,
- Boost attention, memory and problem solving,
- Encourage and foster the imagination needed for excellence in other fields.
What can be learnt from the Arts can be transferred into the STEM fields, thus improving on the overall outcomes of your education and career. As per the London School of Economics, when looking at education:
“A simple place to begin is to ask what we actually want from our education system. Of course we want a huge range of things but a few themes keep coming up: a system which prepares the next generation for the working world, a system which teaches our children social and political values needed for civic and community life, and if we’re feeling ambitious, one that actually improves the general welfare of our children.”
When entering the professional workforce companies want people that are not only technical, but are problem solvers, can think outside of the box (I hate that term but it gets the point across) and are innovative. They need to be able to get their point across, argue coherently for the best design, and convince higher ups to go with their design – all of which can be assisted by involving the Arts! Some famous examples:
- Steve Jobs – Famous for merging technical design with an artistic flare.
- Leonardo Da Vinci – Both a famous technical designer, and an artist.
- Albert Einstein – “One of Einstein’s great insights, which was the basis of relativity, occurred when he imagined he was riding a light wave.” (Professor Kagan, Harvard)
- Su Song – A renowned Chinese polymath who had a big impact in the engineering, astronomy and pharmacological fields of his day.
- Nobel laureates in the sciences are seventeen times likelier than the average scientist to be a painter, twelve times as likely to be a poet, and four times as likely to be a musician.
The following infographic from The University of Florida shows a summary of some of these studies (though it is important to note that the implied left and right brain differences in the infographic have proven to be oversimplified) and gives a good general overview.
Sam has over a decade of experience in the design and operation of complex processing plants, he provides a strong technical background to the site in relation to safe equipment design and operation. Sam, a father of two children, has a B.Eng. (Chem) (Hons) and a Master of Business and Technology from Australia.
