This week when creating an early level resource on people who help us in the medical field I put some clip art in. I searched for doctor and chose one of the first images. Then the same for nurse.

‘So what?’ you say.  All I did was pick the first images returned in a search. But when I looked at the search results mostly they return a stereotype.

On reflection I started thinking, as I am potentially influencing pupils ideas of what a doctor or nurse is.  Perhaps even influencing what pupils feel they can or cannot aspire to.  Should I have thought more carefully about the images I chose? 

To help us think about the influence we may be having on pupils and therefore who thinks STEM is right for them, this weeks CLPL is from the Improving Gender Balance and Equalities (IGBE) team at Education Scotland. Fiona Shaw is the IGBE officer who covers Falkirk and her contact details are in the presentation.