As a little girl, I spent many hours playing in my dad’s lab while he worked on a number of inventions and made important discoveries in his area of electrochemistry. He always had fun, and I had fun being his youngest assistant.

My fate as a technophile was sealed, and now I’m director of TEV Project, a Scottish-based social enterprise designing the roads of the future for electric transport. I was lucky enough to have early access to technology, engineering and science in this way, but my case is rare.  

Most girls have little exposure to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) -based subjects; the old-fashioned myths that they are ‘off limits’ or just for boys still linger in schools.  It’s widely reported that girls in school are less likely to pick STEM studies compared to their male peers and we need to address this. 

It’s great to hear that girls here in Scotland are getting the opportunity to explore the STEM sector from a young age. The “Girls in STEM” event, hosted by Accenture and Stemettes in Edinburgh this week is introducing girls as young as 11 to these industries where they otherwise may not have the chance. It blasts apart the notion that STEM jobs are for men only, and reveals a wide range of careers in this area, from coding for video games to designing sports cars to laboratory research. 

The timing is excellent because skilled workers in these sectors are in high demand. A recent report by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills in July 2015 found that due to a shortage of applicants with the required skills, 43 % of vacancies in STEM were not being filled.

We need to seize this opportunity and educate everyone from a young age about these exciting, creative careers.  I grew up thinking STEM jobs are some of the coolest, hippest, most fun jobs in the world. I still think it’s true. I hope younger generations will see that too.