8th November 2023

Today is the day to celebrate STEM. And what better way to celebrate than to introduce you to our specialist STEM ambassador Charlotte Bounsall. 

At South Devon College, our aim is to help young people to achieve their potential. We are proud to offer over 150 courses in our state of facilities, with a big part of our mission focused around promoting opportunities in STEM subjects including Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. We want everyone to feel empowered, informed and to know that they have an opportunity to develop and succeed in these areas.

We asked Charlotte a few questions about being a STEM ambassador. Here is what she had to say.

What does it mean to be a STEM ambassador?

Being a STEM ambassador gives me the opportunity to work towards showing the next generation what options are out there. STEM or STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) covers so many diverse and interesting job opportunities, and even some that have not been discovered yet because Technology is constantly evolving. I love being able to showcase just a small portion of these to South Devon College students, and primary and secondary school students across the South West of England.

How did you become an ambassador? 

I became an ambassador as I saw an advertisement online, so I registered my interested and went through a swift application process, and after a few weeks I received my confirmation. Being a STEM ambassador gives me the opportunity to find other like-minded professionals, that want to support with any STEM events I run, and it also gives them the opportunity to find me, and collaborate.

What do you do to encourage people into STEM? 

I try my best to encourage internal and external students to at least have a go, when attending one of my STEM events. As a young woman, I had always assumed engineering was about cars, or working in a dirty workshop. This is not the case at all, and I wish when I was younger that I was encouraged more to look into what engineering, marine, computing or any other STEM based curriculum actually is. This is what I try to offer to students, and I’m fortunate enough to work with specialist staff in these areas that feel the same and are happy to support the cause by running workshops. I’m also a huge advocate for Women or Girls into STEM days, encouraging them to try something different, such as Robotics, or Coding.