Great People Day at Chalfonts

A few months ago I received an email from Jessica Hamer, who works with the Drayson Project and Improving Gender Balance with the Institute of Physics (IOP), and she invited me to participate in the Great People Day at Chalfonts Community College. It involved talking to girls in year 11 about my career aspirations and education path so far as well as letting them know where physics could lead them.

I arrived on the morning of the 18th of September and was greeted with lots of beautiful scenery on the way there. The school looked very posh in comparison to my secondary school.

In the taxi with my plasma ball

The receptionist gave me a visitors badge and I then entered the school building. I shortly met Jessica and she quickly briefed me on where I was going to set up. It was lovely to work with her - she totally got the whole gender balance issue and the need for more female role models in STEM and in particular Physics and other male-dominated fields.

I set up my desk - placed my leaflets on the table and plugged in my plasma ball (which I borrowed from my old school). Members of the IOP arrived and loved the plasma ball as much as I did! They were super friendly and it was great to talk to like-minded people who also want to help this gender balance issue. They were super supportive of my efforts to change the stereotype that physics is a male subject.

When I arrived there was a slideshow with some inspirational women, including Marie Curie which was nice to see.

My leaflets

My table with leaflets and plasma ball

Plasma Ball!

My leaflet showing all possible career options with physics

Front of leaflet

The other visitors who were also participating in Great People Day arrived and I got to meet the friendliest PhD student who was working with the cold matter group at Royal Holloway - it was nice to have a fellow physicist! She discussed her work with me and she works with very very cold matter in cryogenic fridges - she was definitely an inspiration for me. The other visitors consisted of engineers, bankers, police officers, army officer, and a crime scene investigator. It was nice to see women of all professions there who were willing to inspire young girls.

The students began to come in and Jessica gave a very inspirational talk about her inspiration and the fact that we should be confident in our abilities and chase our dreams. She also showed a video from the always #LikeAGirl campaign that conveyed a very strong message that girls can do anything that they want and we are Unstoppable.

Jessica's inspirational talk

Jessica informing the girls of the structure of the day

After this the girls were split into two main groups and the first session of speed networking was underway. I got my first batch of female students and already there were questions about the plasma ball! I told them that after my short monologue we would be able to have a play with the plasma ball. So they listened to my introduction of the A levels I took, where I study now, what I study, why I enjoy physics and what I would like to do in the future. I gave the girls my leaflet and showed them the myriad of careers they could go into with physics. They were so surprised to see so many career options. I also explained that there is a shortage of STEM graduates and so they would be more likely to get a job and earn more in STEM. I spoke about how I got into the subject and my love for medical physics - they could relate to the fact that I love the applications of physics, in particular being able to save lives. I told them that they shouldn't rule out physics if they find it difficult or have a bad teacher or because no one else does it, with time they'll learn more and be able to gain a greater understanding of the subject and see its significance and how cool it can be! Also, I told them to research different careers and check out what the A level requirements were so that they didn't miss out on their career path because they didn't pick the right A levels.

After this I let them touch the plasma ball and most had never seen it before so I got some very cool reactions! Some were even scared to touch it! This led to the most asked question what is inside it? I went on to explain what a plasma was and that it makes up most of our Universe - about 99.999%! This then led to the discussion that the Sun is made of a plasma and all of them were amazed!

I quickly found that the plasma ball was a huge hit with the students since many of the groups of girls were competing for a seat at my table! The members of the IOP loved it too. I knew I needed something to grab the girls attention and also to spark questions so using the plasma ball was a great way to do this. The first session came to an end and my mouth was very dry! We had a small break to mingle with the other visitors and get some tea and biscuits ..mmmm....

I managed to speak to other visitors and learnt more about their careers - it was great to see women in a variety of professions. The next group of students came into the Hall and the next session was underway. Once again I spoke about my education path and where Physics could lead them followed by a bit of fun with the plasma ball. I wanted to engage the girls further so I asked them about their favourite subjects at school and whether they knew which professions those subjects would lead them into - many didn't know and so this is where the problem lies. This shows the importance of events like this one to inform the students about possible career options.

After this there an inspirational talk was given by Jane Griffiths, the company group chairman of Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. She started off from the bottom in a small town and went straight to the top! She had great advice for the young women in the room. She even wished she had taken physics! Woo! She shared her career path and told them to believe in themselves and continue to fight for their dreams no matter what.

The assistant principle also shared her story which was quite emotional - it told the students that they shouldn't let anyone put them down or listen to anyone who says that they can't do something. All these inspirational stories gave me a boost too and told me to keep going and the sky's not the limit! If you are reading this remember, listening to negativity will only bring you down, keep those who empower you close and never ever give up on your dreams!

Had a great time at Chalfonts!