Industrial actors and their rationales for engaging in STEM education

Maria Andrée,Lena Hansson

doi:10.1080/00220272.2019.1682055

Maria Andrée, Lena Hansson

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2019.1682055

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Abstract

ABSTRACT In science education, critical discussions on the engagement of industrial actors in STEM education are scarce. In this study, we take the perspective that industrial STEM education initiatives are an arena for governing STEM education. The aim is to contribute to a critical discussion on the involvement of industrial actors in STEM education by scrutinizing how they describe their engagement. More specifically, we look at the discursive repertoires industrial actors put forward as rationales for engaging in STEM education initiatives. The data consist of web materials wherein industrial actors describe and justify their engagements. We identify the following interpretative repertoires used by industrial actors when justifying their engagement in said initiatives: a) Securing competent labour, b) Securing economic growth, c) Improving the public image—marketing, d) Contributing to a bright future, e) Increasing interest in STEM, f) Increasing knowledge in and of STEM and g) Empowering young people. The repertoires are discussed in light of potential tensions between public and private good. The notion of ‘boundary repertoires’ is introduced to discuss repertoires which can be adapted across discursive practices and which afford industrial actors possibilities for speaking to a varied audience—shareholders as well as teachers.

Highlights

In Sweden and across the globe, many initiatives to improve, as well as to increase interest in STEM1 (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education are introduced by various actors outside of schools
The repertoires should not be regarded as ‘truths’ in relation to why industrial actors engage in STEM education; rather, the repertoires must be situated in a discursive practice, as they function potentially both as means to legitimize engagement in STEM education and as a means to establish particular images of the actors
It is of outmost importance that schools and different levels of government become aware of the governance elements at play in the commercialization of education, and that commercialization almost necessarily involves tensions between public and private good

Summary

Introduction

In Sweden and across the globe, many initiatives to improve, as well as to increase interest in STEM1 (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education are introduced by various actors outside of schools. The initiatives range from explicit recruitment campaigns to educational materials and out-of-school activities and involve different kinds of actors such as various levels of government (Andrée & Hansson, 2013), the scientific community (Andrée & Hansson, 2014), nongovernmental organizations (Andrée, Hansson, & Ideland, 2018; Ideland & Tröhler, 2015) and industrial actors (cf Teknikdelegationen [in English The Swedish Technology Delegation] 2010). Whereas previous research in science education has pointed to the benefits of cooperation between schools and external actors, there is research on educational policy that points to potential tensions between the aims and messages communicated by external actors and curricular goals such as objectivity, democracy and sustainability (cf Robertson, Mundy, Verger, & Menashy, 2012a).

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