About Us

STEMside started out as a passion project. 

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Two Biochemistry graduates, Anamaria and Bianca, looked back into their past and realised how privileged they have been for they had access to certain opportunities which helped them gain an offer to study at one of the world's top universities. However, they just cannot imagine how different their lives would have been if they were to wear the same shoes as a student coming from a disadvantaged/under-represented background.

 

As a matter of fact, did you know that individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds and women are less likely to go to university for STEM degrees and apply to top tier universities [1, 2]? And to make matters worse, the current COVID-19 pandemic has further worsened this educational gap and outlook of students from socio-economic backgrounds [3].

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Hence, a thought came to their minds – "We technically can start something to combat the problems associated with the lack of diversity and inclusion in science. So, why should we hold back?"

 

As a result, STEMside was born.

 

STEMside (previously known as in2biochem) is a social enterprise on a mission to promote the interdisciplinary nature of science to prospective university students globally, regardless of their personal background. Our project will assist in providing support to 15 to 19-year-old students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, increase their awareness of niche STEM degree courses and how they are deeply intertwined with each other through online resources, and help improve the overall quality of their university applications.

 

All in all, we hope to one day see StemSide as a go-to platform for any student to learn about science and to help them boost their applications to university. And perhaps we would daresay that we wish our platform could someday be a critical component in inspiring a future Nobel Laureate’s interest in science!

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References

1. Rodeiro, C.V. (2019) The impact of A-Level subject choice and students’ background characteristics on Higher Education participation. Research Matters. 28.

2. Ro, H.K., Fernandez, F. and Alcott, B. (2018) Social class, human capital, and enrollment in STEM subjects at prestigious universities: The case of England. Educational Policy. p.0895904818813305. 

3. Montacute, R. (2020) Social mobility and COVID-19: Implications of the COVID-19 crisis for educational inequality. The Sutton Trust.