Geophysics Survey by Durham and Aberdeen Universities
Dear ESTA Members,
We are reaching out to you as representatives of the British Geophysical Association (BGA). Geophysics is a broad and relevant subject used to better understand our planet, which provides key skills required to facilitate a green energy transition and achieve Sustainable Development Goals, that are sought after by employers. However, intake of students to UK geophysics degree programs is falling year on year. The British Geophysical Association (BGA) are collecting anonymous data from teachers and career advisors to try and understand why this is happening, and what we can do to change it.
Below is a link to a short survey (max 10 minutes to complete), which we would really appreciate if any high school science (including geography)/maths/computing teachers or careers advisors could fill out. If you are aware of others who this would be relevant to, please feel free to distribute the link more widely across your teaching contacts.
Both surveys have been ethics approved via ethics committees at both Aberdeen and Durham universities and all data collected is completely anonymous.
We are also gathering anonymous information directly from students (aged 16-18) themselves, on whether they are aware of geophysics as a subject and what motivates them when considering what to study at university. This may be relevant to any students studying physics, maths, science, geography, geology, computing or any similar subjects. We'd ask you, their teachers, to look over this 5 minute survey, and decide whether you think it is appropriate to share with your pupils. If you choose to pass the survey on, maybe if your class has internet access during a lesson, students could even be allocated a short time to fill this in directly?
We'd really appreciate your help in distributing/filling in these surveys and helping the geophysics community understand what we can do to promote this exciting and useful subject better in high schools.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the survey leads:
Dr. Jennifer Jenkins (Assistant Professor Earth Science, Durham University
Dr. Amy Gilligan (Lecturer in Geophysics, University of Aberdeen)