Let’s blame the lightsabers. This is what led me to becoming a professor. As a high school student, one of my main goals in life was to figure out how to build a real lightsaber. It’s almost impossible, so it didn’t matter if I went into engineering or science, but I pursued STEM anyway. When I was a student, I decided to study physics. Then I went to college to study even more in physics until I finally obtained my Ph.D.
No lightsaber has ever been created, but I have been teaching science to students for over 25 years. A real interest in STEM — and maybe (again) Star Wars— attracted many students to my class, but over time this enthusiasm waxed and waned.
Especially now. When it comes to further education and, ultimately, a career in STEM, there is much more uncertainty than there was 10 or 15 years ago. Especially for students arriving in 2025. First, the Trump administration’s attempts to restrict funding for “woke” research have led to cuts in funding for many scientific studies. Second, there is artificial intelligence, which is often touted as a tool capable of making the next substantial breakthrough on its own.
What should a student do? Is STEM no longer a gateway to a career in a demanding and fascinating field? This is true, but explaining why is not elementary. Science is occasional.
Most importantly, high school students thinking about pursuing STEM studies must understand and be challenged by the fields themselves. (Fun fact: the acronym used to be SMET. It really hasn’t rolled off the tongue.) To study science, you need to know how people Down science.
In tiny, science is the process of building models. What is a model? Let’s move on to the easiest example: a globe, which is a model of the Earth. Of course not the Earth, but shows some properties of the actual planet (such as the shape and position of the continents). However, it doesn’t show the size, weight or location of the nearest coffee shop – you’ll have to find that yourself. Scientific models don’t have to be equations, they can be physical or conceptual things.
One of my favorite models involves gravitational interaction. It’s comical because it’s bad. On the Earth’s surface, scientists can model the gravitational force acting on an object as a constant value (g) multiplied by its mass. This is a very useful model. It’s good for creating planes and bridges and is elementary. But that’s wrong. In fact, as you move away from the center of the Earth, the force of gravity decreases. Another, more exact model is useful for calculating the orbits of planets and other objects such as the International Space Station. This model is Also evil. There is an even better model that treats gravity as the curvature of space-time. Scientists can employ this to explain why colliding black holes create gravitational waves. But I guess that’s wrong too.