The evaluation of many STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) interventions focuses on planned outcomes. However, the impact of unintended consequences from interventions remains largely unexplored in the literature. This case study presents the design and evaluation of a school-based workshop about an engineering-adjacent career: environmental planning. The authors used a community of inquiry action research approach focusing on knowledge and aspirational outcomes from outreach, particularly around broadening children's knowledge and understanding of careers. The developed evaluation tools allowed identification of intended and unintended consequences from the intervention. Participants were children aged 10-11 years ($\mathrm{n}=83$) from two schools in North East England. Results showed an increase in knowledge of environmental planning. The qualitative data indicate unanticipated consequences due to children's temporal misunderstanding of timescales involved in coastal changes. Findings are discussed in the context of 'lessons learned' and highlight the importance for engineering and technology outreach interventions of incorporating a well-designed evaluation strategy and feedback mechanism to identify and mitigate unintended and unanticipated consequences.

This Full Paper presents the findings from a study to identify the attributes STEM professionals believe make them successful in their role. Engineering and other STEM employers indicate that they value transferable skills linked to personal characteristics and attributes, often called soft skills. These attributes of STEM professionals were also compared with a separate set of 16 STEM attributes developed for use in STEM engagement interventions for children and young people. A snowball sample of self-identified STEM employees was gathered (n=217), with the majority of respondents from the North East of England (54%). Using an online survey participants named up to six personal attributes and were asked to rate how well the 16 STEM attributes described them. Thematic analysis identified 19 different themes with soft skills contributing 68% of the terms provided. This research provides a clear indication that soft skills are valued by established employees in their work. It also indicates that there is merit in looking beyond subject knowledge to frame engineering education and engagement activities. The 16 STEM Attributes in the STEM engagement interventions were found to realistically represent the attributes of those working in STEM. An attributes based approach to engagement could help children and young people to identify the skills that they have (or could develop), or support students with employability by enabling them to elucidate the value of their own skills to the employer.

This research full paper presents a study that examines emerging understanding of science careers among very young children (aged 5-7) and seeks to identify the factors that influence their understanding. Knowing that early interest in science is a strong predictor for future engineering pathways, and that children begin eliminating careers as incompatible with their future self at a very young age, the results are interpreted in the context of what this means for engineering education. Grounded theory approaches were applied to qualitative data collected through focus groups and used to sort and categorize data and identify themes. The study finds that despite science being a core subject in elementary schooling in the UK, young children’s awareness of scientists and science careers remains low. Four categories to describe the patterns of children’s understanding were identified: undeveloped, introductory, stereotypical, and diversifying. For most children, their perceptions of scientists remained either under-developed or confined to ideas with clear labels, such as stereotypes. Young children’s understanding of engineers may be even more restricted due to engineering not being a taught subject within elementary education in the UK. The factors identified as influencing young children’s understanding of scientists differ somewhat from those presented in studies with slightly older children. Young children did not commonly relate science learning in school with scientists or to a broader spectrum of science-related jobs. Children within the diversifying group highlight the value of personal experiences with science and STEM professionals. By identifying the potential of careers-related learning to shape young children’s understanding of engineering and engineering careers as distinct from that of science and mathematics, these findings have implications for future engineering education practices.

Machines, algorithms and people are coming together in new and exciting ways. This is changing the world of work with new jobs previously unimagined. It is crucial that we prepare our young people for this world, yet many of them do not aspire to, and are not choosing, careers in digital technology or engineering, particularly girls and those from socially-disadvantaged backgrounds. Furthermore, while much of the work in this area has focused on the aspirations of older children there is evidence that children's aspirations are formed at an early age. The aim of this study is to explore the factors that influence younger children's reported aspirations to jobs, and in particular STEM jobs. Data was gathered from children aged 7-11 (n= 622) across areas of deprivation in North East England. Children were asked about their career aspirations and the motivations behind these. Analysis of this data showed that the majority of children were aspirational in their career choices, with many reporting higher aspirations than their parents' current jobs. A gender difference was evident across both aspirations and motivations, with many girls choosing STEM careers that help others. Very few of the children aspired to jobs in the digital and engineering sectors. These results demonstrate the criticality of early education stages are for children's developing aspirations and the urgent need to adapt education so that all children, irrespective of gender or background, can be supported to grasp the opportunities presented by an ever-changing world.

Considerable effort has been spent on interventions to increase the numbers/diversity of young people studying Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and/or entering STEM related careers with little evidence of their effectiveness. In the UK, less than 10% of professional engineers are female. Science capital is a recent concept for capturing those elements that influence children's choice of a science-related career. Children with higher science capital are more likely to choose a STEM career than those with lower science capital and therefore interventions to increase science capital are needed. Initially studies evaluating science capital have focused on secondary age children (aged 11 - 18 years). Here a research approach for evaluating science capital among primary age children (aged 7 - 11 years) is presented using a mixed methods approach. Results indicate that children share similar perceptions of scientists as `hardworking', `clever' and `creative' independent of gender, age and science capital. However, children's self-identify differed by gender, age and science capital, illustrating significant gaps for some children between their self-identity and that of a scientist. Interventions focusing on narrowing this gap should increase the likelihood of them considering a science-related career.