Building Leadership in Students Through STEM Learning

Table of Contents

The Intersection of STEM and Leadership Development
Problem-Solving and Resilience: Key Leadership Skills Gained from STEM
Encouraging Leadership Through STEM Projects
Examples of STEM Activities That Foster Leadership Skills
Mentorship and Role Models in STEM Leadership Development
Preparing the Leaders of Tomorrow Through STEM Learning

As children progress through their education, personal lives, and professional careers, it is imperative they have strong leadership skills. As parents and educators, it is our job to ensure students are exposed to opportunities at home and in the classroom to exercise and strengthen this key soft skill.

One effective way to incorporate leadership opportunities into the classroom is through STEM learning opportunities. STEM projects give students real-world scenarios to tackle and promote collaboration with others that encourage strengthening their 21st century skills. In this article, we will explore how STEM education helps students build key leadership skills they will use throughout their personal and professional lives, regardless of if they are joining the STEM workforce or not.

The Intersection of STEM and Leadership Development

The structure and processes present in STEM learning make for strong, organic connections to leadership development. These science, technology, engineering, and mathematics based lessons emphasize critical skills to being an effective leader, such as teamwork, critical thinking, collaboration, and innovative brainstorming.

Here are some of the other skills that STEM learning helps students strengthen that promote development of their leadership skills:

Encourages students taking the initiative.
Builds responsibility over performance and outcome.
Develop quick, concise decision making skills.
Teaches students how to assign roles and responsibilities among team members.
Promotes open communication between team members and leadership/teachers.
Exercises conflict resolution skills.

Problem-Solving and Resilience: Key Leadership Skills Gained from STEM

Successful, strong leaders have to overcome obstacles with tact and resilience. Their ability to effectively maneuver challenging situations is what allows them to lead those around them, and gives others the confidence they need to follow this person. STEM learning often leans into a trial-and-error approach where students learn to try various approaches to get to the best and most effective outcome. The ability to face failure, think critically about new, innovative solutions, and try again until there is a better outcome is a skill that benefits students in STEM learning and also in their future roles where others are looking to them for guidance.

Encouraging Leadership Through STEM Projects

STEM projects often require creative, innovative thinking, both of which are skills commonly found in successful leaders. Here are some of the types of STEM learning opportunities that help students strengthen these skills:

Project-Based STEM Activities: Hands-on STEM activities that connect to real-world scenarios allow students to think outside the box and use historical knowledge when looking for solutions.
STEM Research Opportunities: Research opportunities allow students to gain a deeper interest and understanding in what they are learning. This strong knowledge foundation allows students to confidently present creative ideas.
Open-Ended STEM Projects: Open-ended STEM projects allow students to explore and develop unique solutions, leading to creative and innovative solutions.
STEM Competitions and Challenges: STEM challenges allow students to apply their initiative and creativity, which leads to innovative solutions that go beyond what they would think of on their first pass.

Examples of STEM Activities That Foster Leadership Skills

There are a variety of STEM activities that will help students foster leadership skills. Below is a list of some STEM learning opportunities for the classroom to promote student leadership:

STEM Football: STEM Football uses hands-on learning in a group setting to promote teamwork, collaboration, and critical thinking in every lesson. In the STEM Sports® curricula, students are presented with real-world sports scenarios they can connect to STEM skills.
LEGO® Mindstorms: LEGO® promotes project-based learning, where students interact directly with the curriculum to better understand what they are learning. LEGO® Mindstorms transforms students into coders and programmers, where their ability to problem solve and think critically is tested.
NASA Mars Rover: The NASA Mars Rover lesson transforms students into engineers, where they use the Engineering Design Process (EDP) to troubleshoot their design and, eventually, come up with the best solution possible. This lesson promotes critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills.

Mentorship and Role Models in STEM Leadership Development

Role models and mentors play a critical role in student success throughout their STEM education journey. By having someone to admire, ask for guidance, and receive feedback, students are more likely to continue to pursue STEM career paths and see success. These STEM mentors are also beneficial to students in gaining key leadership skills. By seeing their role model successfully lead a group, they will start to notice and adopt the skills they admire in their leader. As educators and school administrators, creating STEM mentorship programs, inviting guest speakers, or creating peer mentorship opportunities are great ways to provide students with role models who will help them strengthen their hard and soft skills.

Preparing the Leaders of Tomorrow Through STEM Learning

Whether students plan to enter the STEM workforce or not, there are key life lessons and skills to be learned through STEM learning. These classroom activities help students to arm themselves with the leadership skills they need to successfully navigate their future careers, regardless of the field.

If you are a parent, school administrator, or educator looking for ways to incorporate STEM activities into your child’s education with the hopes of strengthening their STEM literacy and leadership skills, click here to learn more about STEM Sports®.