FLASS students acquire soft skills and reflect on personal values at STEM+ leadership workshop

Science and technology education has seen many changes in the past two decades in Hong Kong and elsewhere. Our society has reached a strong consensus that the learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) should be conducted in an interdisciplinary and applied manner, instead of in an isolated non-integrated approach. People are also more aware that soft skills such as teamwork, presentation skills, and the ability to jump out from the confines of STEM while considering solutions to problems are essential to science and technology education.

FLASS is forward-looking in educating our next generation. We are committed to equipping our students with not only academic knowledge, but also the soft skills and other essential qualities that they need for their future work. As part of this commitment, the Department of Science and Environmental Studies (SES) organised the “Preparing STEM+ Education Leadership” workshop from September to November 2021 for students from all FLASS programmes. The workshop involved an induction session, four roundtable discussions and an in-person presentation, and was organised with support from the faculty and help from Inclusive Business Lab (IBL), an external partner. It was the first time the faculty organised a programme of this nature, to brush up FLASS’s students’ soft skills and stimulate them to reflect on their personal values.

Dr Leung Chi-fai, an associate professor from SES and workshop coordinator, said, “In today’s world, scientists need to tackle problems that science and technology alone cannot address. Problems like global warming and climate change involve stakeholders from a wide range of sectors. To handle these issues well, one needs to have solid scientific knowledge as well as good communications and leadership skills.” Dr Leung added that the ability to combine scientific knowledge with ethical arguments in decision-making has also become necessary in many of the works scientists are responsible for nowadays.

The workshop was delivered in partnership with Inclusive Business Lab (IBL), a non-profit purpose-driven organisation aiming to create an ecosystem that addresses systemic poverty and rich-poor gap issues, with Dr Violet Lo Suet-fan, founder of both IBL and the charitable organisation Inclusive Business Foundation (IBF), being the guest speaker and trainer. IBF and IBL aim to constantly innovate and develop for social impact, creating training curriculums, opportunities and jobs for young people.

The roundtables covered topics ranging from leaders and leadership, team building, truth and truthfulness, to one’s personal vision in life. Under Dr Lo’s guidance, participants used tools like quantum music making, machine learning and podcasts to express new ideas learnt from the workshop. While the induction session and four roundtable discussions were held in a hybrid mode utilising virtual means, a face-to-face presentation was arranged on campus during the Christmas holiday of 2021 to provide an opportunity for participants to present their completed tasks from the workshop and share their reflections through podcasts.

Dr Lo said, “From roundtable discussions to making podcasts and machine-learning arts, and performing ‘Never too Young to Lead’ raps, the workshop is designed to encourage students with different backgrounds and interests to build one another up through teamwork, and gain more in-depth knowledge of subjects across different disciplines in the process. It is also designed to help them develop critical thinking and complex problem-solving skills, as well as stimulate creativity and innovation on top of teaching self-management skills including active learning, resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility, which are among the top skills required for future development and career-building.”

Around 20 students participated in the workshop. In their feedback, they said the workshop was well-arranged, the content was relevant and useful, and the trainer was well-prepared. One of the students shared: “I reflected more on personal growth, which requires us to have a coherent understanding of ourselves as well as a comprehensive and meaningful plan for our present and future life.” Another participant said: “Through the workshop, I gained a new understanding of leadership. To be a good leader not only requires us to have the ability to lead, but also to have a caring heart and learn to be inclusive.”

Dr Leung said, “The STEM+ leadership workshop has successfully achieved its planned targets. It provided a valuable opportunity for students from different FLASS programmes to attend and exchange ideas. Scientists today need to lead their works to respond to social needs. To complete these works, collaboration with people from different sectors is necessary. We are happy to see that students kept an open mind throughout the workshop to learn the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will be essential for their future jobs that their subject disciplines might not teach.”

As a follow-up to the leadership workshop, IBL is planning to launch a number of activities in the coming summer. FLASS students who have participated in the STEM+ leadership workshop are welcome to join these activities, where students from local universities who have participated in similar training can showcase their works done in the workshop and exchange their experiences.

Podcasts recorded by students for the workshop are available at here.