Getting kids in STEAM subjects could be the key to unlocking so much more than science and maths – it’s the way forward for curiosity, creativity and problem solving. We speak to an expert about how simple questions at home can change the game.
“But why does it do that?” – ah, the question you never want from the back seat where we find ourselves hoping the next question is one we can actually answer.
But the next time you reply ‘I don’t know’, think about Julie Baker – she’s spent more than thirty years in New Zealand education, she’s a mechanical engineer and education lead at MOTAT and she’s part of the team behind Samsung Solve for Tomorrow – AND she has very good news for those of us who never felt like science people. Turns out, the single most powerful thing we can do at home for our kids has nothing to do with knowing the answers.
We sat down with Julie to talk about why girls so often drift away from STEAM right around intermediate age, how to build the kind of try-fail-try-again resilience that real innovation actually depends on, and the genuinely low-cost, no-expertise-required ways to keep that spark alive long after the questions get harder.
You’ve spent 30-plus years in NZ education and you’re a mechanical engineer yourself – when did you first realise you had a knack for STEAM subjects, and was there a person or moment that sparked it?
There was no single moment or person to pin it on, but I always enjoyed science and maths at school (I still had some failures along the way though!). Success at high school reinforced my interest in them. I come from a family of makers – crafts, woodworking, engineering, baking etc – so was surrounded by the hands-on, ‘can-make-it’ attitude.
Can you explain to us what STEAM is?
S= Science, T= Technology, E= Engineering, A= The Arts, M= Mathematics
It’s an educational approach that integrates these disciplines to help learners develop creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and innovation skills. Rather than teaching subjects in isolation, a STEAM approach encourages students to apply knowledge from multiple areas to solve real-world problems.
Julie Baker, Education Lead at MOTAT
We know girls are still underrepresented in STEAM careers. From what you’ve seen at MOTAT and through Solve for Tomorrow, at what age do girls tend to lose interest and what’s actually happening there?
Research shows that girls’ interest in science and technology doesn’t suddenly disappear at one age, but a decline often becomes noticeable between 10 and 14 years old, during the transition from primary to secondary school.
There’s several factors that cause this:
Stereotypes and social messaging – Girls begin to absorb stronger messages about which subjects and careers are considered “for boys” or “for girls.” Even subtle cues from media, peers, family, and society can influence their sense of belonging in STEAM fields.
Confidence gap –girls often rate their abilities in mathematics, science, and technology lower than boys, even when their achievement is equal to or higher than boys’.
Lack of visible role models – If girls rarely see women represented as engineers, technologists, inventors, or scientists, it can be harder for them to imagine themselves in those careers.
School experiences – Collaborative, creative, and real-world problem-solving contexts tend to engage girls more strongly.
Identity formation – If STEAM is perceived as not aligning with personal identity, interest can decline even among highly capable students.
Importantly, research shows that the issue is usually not ability or interest in science itself. Many girls remain highly interested in solving problems, helping people, creating things, and making a positive impact. What often changes are whether they see STEAM pathways as places where they belong and can make a difference.
For me, it’s to encourage curiosity without worrying about having the answers. Children’s interest in science and technology is strongly influenced by whether the adults around them value curiosity and exploration. You don’t need to be a scientist, engineer, or mathematician. What matters is modelling a mindset that questions are exciting and worth investigating.
Some parents might feel they’re not qualified to encourage STEAM because they didn’t do well in those subjects themselves. What would you say to them?
One of the most valuable things you can do is show them that it’s okay not to know the answer. Curiosity starts with asking questions, exploring ideas, and learning together. If your child asks how something works, you don’t need to explain it — you can say, ‘I’m not sure, let’s find out.’ That models exactly the kind of thinking we want young people to develop.
What are some genuinely easy, low-cost activities parents can do with kids at home – particularly primary school age – to build that inventive, problem-solving mindset?
It isn’t actually the activity itself that matters — it’s the conversation around it. You want to encourage children to make predictions, test ideas, learn from mistakes, explain their thinking, improve their outcomes.
When something breaks, involve children in finding the problem. Even if they can’t repair it, thinking through how it works develops engineering thinking.
Pick an everyday object and ask, “What’s wrong with this, how could we make it better?”. A simple question like “What could we change to make it work better?” helps build the mindset used by scientists, engineers, designers, and inventors.
Notice when everyday things don’t work properly or a difficult to use – these are the problems which can start children on a design process
In the kitchen ask questions such as, “What happens if we use less baking powder, or put more chocolate chips in?”. Encourage predictions before testing, and eat your failures!
Having judged the competition, what do the kids who submit the most impressive entries have in common?
They’ve started with a good problem – not too big (don’t try to solve world hunger!) and even small problems can lead to elegant solutions.
They’ve talked to lots of people- friends, family, community, people who are affected by the problem – the stakeholders. These conversations can help refine the problem and help you find workable solutions. It’s important that you don’t go into the project fixed on a solution, you have to be open to changing it up based on stakeholder feedback.
So many of the winning projects are focused on environmental problems. Do you think this generation of kids is more motivated by purpose than previous ones, and how can parents tap into that?
Yes, I think young people today are highly motivated by purpose and impact. Compared with previous generations, they’ve grown up with constant exposure to issues such as climate change, sustainability, social justice, and biodiversity loss. As a result, they’re often asking how can I make a difference?
What’s encouraging is that this aligns closely with how innovation happens in the real world. Engineers, scientists, designers, and entrepreneurs are increasingly working on complex challenges that affect people and the planet. Young people can see that STEAM skills are tools for creating positive change.
For parents, there’s a huge opportunity is to connect learning to the problems that matter to their children. If they’re interested in sustainability, then that provides a context for reframing school subjects like science and maths.
How much can parents realistically expect schools to do, and where does the gap need to be filled at home or out of the house, like at MOTAT?
I think it’s a shared responsibility. Schools play a hugely important role, but they can’t (and shouldn’t have to) do it all on their own. Families, museums, libraries, community groups, sports clubs, and industry all have a role to play.
Schools provide foundational knowledge, skills, and structured learning. Families reinforce curiosity, confidence, and positive attitudes toward learning. Museums, science centres, libraries, and community organisations provide authentic, hands-on experiences that bring learning to life. Research consistently shows that learning is most powerful when it occurs across multiple settings.
Girls in particular can struggle with perfectionism and fear of failure, two things that are, on the surface, could be seen as pretty incompatible with science and innovation. How do parents help build that resilience to try, fail, and try again?
Celebrate when they fail and try again – not just when they succeed. One of the biggest misconceptions about science, engineering, and innovation is that successful people get things right the first time. In reality, failure, iteration, and learning from mistakes are a fundamental part of the process.
Is there a sweet spot age where kids are most receptive to falling in love with STEAM?
Personal experience would say the intermediate schools years are a promising time. At this age, children are naturally curious, they’re still willing to ask big questions, and they have enough knowledge and independence to start designing, building, testing, and creating things for themselves. Importantly, many haven’t yet developed the self-consciousness or subject stereotypes that can emerge during the teenage years.
And conversely, is there ever a point where it’s “too late” to ignite that interest?
No!
When you look at what New Zealand needs over the next 20 years – environmentally, economically, socially – how urgent is it that we get more young women into STEAM, and what’s at stake if we don’t?
We need to build New Zealand’s capacity to solve some of our biggest challenges. We need people who can tackle complex issues such as climate adaptation, renewable energy, sustainable food production, biodiversity restoration, healthcare innovation, digital transformation, infrastructure resilience, and advanced manufacturing. The challenges of the future won’t be solved by half of New Zealand’s talent. We can’t afford to leave half of our problem-solvers on the sidelines.
For parents who haven’t visited MOTAT in a while, how has it evolved as a place to spark that STEAM curiosity in kids and what should families be looking out for when they visit?
Come and visit Te Puawānanga – the Science and Technology Centr. Recently awarded International Exhibition of the Year at the Museums + Heritage Awards in London, Te Puawānanga is all about interaction and discovery for all ages. From the towering Tāne Mahuta in Te Tumu – Play space for under 5s, to Beats in Time in Te Waha – the Innovation space, we welcome everyone to explore science and tech in a whole new way.
Jump on heritage tram to our Aviation Centre and check out Ngā hau a Tāwhirirangi Forces of Flight uncovers the invisible powers that make flight possible. Explore how lift, thrust, drag and weight work together to keep everything from birds to jumbo jets soaring through the sky.
With hands-on experiments and interactive displays that let you test the forces yourself, feel the balance of physics in action – push against air, shape wings, and see what it takes to fly.
Origins of STEAM
STEAM evolved from STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).
The term STEM emerged in the United States during the 1990s, promoted by organisations such as the National Science Foundation to strengthen education in fields critical to economic growth, innovation, and workforce development.
During the 2000s, educators and researchers began arguing that creativity, design, communication, and human-centred thinking were essential components of innovation.
Around 2008, the addition of the Arts to STEM gained momentum, largely through the advocacy of the Rhode Island School of Design and its president, John Maeda.
The term STEAM was adopted to highlight the importance of creativity and design alongside scientific and technical knowledge.
Why Add the Arts?
The “A” in STEAM is not limited to visual arts. It can include: Design, Creativity, Communication, Humanities, Storytelling, Music, Cultural understanding
Advocates argue that many real-world innovations combine technical expertise with creative thinking.
STEAM Today
Today, STEAM is widely used in schools, museums, science centres, libraries, and community programmes around the world. It is particularly popular in project-based and inquiry-based learning environments where learners tackle authentic challenges and create tangible solutions.
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is a nationwide competition, run in partnership with MOTAT and Technology Education New Zealand (TENZ), that challenges students in Years 7 to 13 to identify a real-world problem in their community and use design thinking and STEAM skills to create a solution. It challenges New Zealand’s next generation of innovators to harness their creativity, and apply design and STEAM thinking to develop solutions that make a positive difference in their communities.
Kiwi students can find out more and enter here
