STEM education is now widely regarded as being essential to modern systems in order to prepare inclusive workers, who are one of the main needs of development.
Participants in a two-day conference on “Horizons in STEM Higher Education” organised by Lahore College for Women University here on Wednesday stressed the need for higher education leadership to take proactive measures to make the STEM fields more equitable, diverse, and inclusive.
They also discussed the difficulties faced by women in the medical field and shared a road map for improvement.
The conference was a component of the British Council-funded “STEM Education in Pakistan” project, which also featured several women role models in STEM fields and involved building the capacity of more than 200 current and future STEM faculty.
The closing ceremony of the project and the conference was graced by a former member National Assembly and chairman of Pakistan Engineering Council, Engr Najeeb Haroon as a chief guest.
Engr Najeeb Haroon, Chairman of the Pakistan Engineering Council, praised the LCWU’s engineering department and the project’s goals as well as awarding prizes to selected final-year projects that concentrated on flood monitoring and solar-powered irrigation.
Engineer Dr. Aqsa Shabbir, who is also the project leader and conference chair for STEM education, oversaw these projects.
Honorable Clara Strandhoj, a special guest at the conference and the head of the British High Commission in Lahore and Punjab, expressed her appreciation for the initiatives and stated that increasing the number of women in STEM fields is essential for economic growth.
STEM education is now widely regarded as being essential to modern systems in order to prepare inclusive workers, who are one of the main needs of development. She added that in order to do this, students must have access to cutting-edge educational technology.
Vice Chancellor LCWU Prof. Dr. Bushra Mirza emphasised that LCWU is dedicated to empowering women, and that this project and conference have made significant contributions in that regard.
STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is an interdisciplinary approach, according to Prof. Dr. Bushra Mirza. STEM enables students to solve problems by honing their analytical abilities and fusing previously independent disciplines.
“It is a well-known fact that using such a cutting-edge method gives students the tools they need for multidisciplinary thinking and inspires them to take on challenges of any complexity in their future endeavors,” she continued.
The project’s coordinator and conference chair, Dr. Engr. Aqsa Shabbir, said that sharing the accomplishments of successful STEM women will have long-lasting positive effects. This project also involved raising STEM awareness in public schools.