Spark Content

Everyone is talking about STEM. The acronym (which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) might be little, but the focus on these areas is huge. And it’s been building for some time. In 2010, the Canadian Government launched the Youth STEM program, to encourage education and careers in STEM. That same year, the U.S. government spearheaded a $250 million investment to increase funding for education and training in areas related to STEM. More recently, both Scouts Canada and Girl Guides of Canada developed their own STEM programs.

There’s also a concentrated push to get more women interested in STEM. This September, the University of Waterloo announced new scholarships to help women in STEM programs. The same day, they announced a Director of Women in Computer Science position, designed to help women entering the program and to expand on the university’s existing Women in Computer Science, Women in Engineering, and Women in Science committees.

STEM is everywhere.

Now, there’s another movement that is slowing building momentum: STEAM, where the “A” highlights the important role that Arts graduates play in STEM-related fields. In July 2015, Forbes published an essay outlining how some of the most successful tech companies are recognizing the value of “useless” Arts degrees. In March 2015, the Washington Post published an opinion piece arguing that it was because of the advances in technology that society still needs Arts graduates*. The key point of these articles: innovation requires more than a knowledge of things; it requires an understanding of people’s wants and needs so that you can give it to them. An Arts education provides that human touch. Or, as Steve Jobs put it, “technology alone is not enough … it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our hearts sing.”

Even the University of Waterloo, while announcing their support for women in STEM, recognizes the need for balance. They teamed up with Wilfred Laurier University and The Working Centre to create a program to highlight the important critical thinking and interpersonal skills that Arts and Humanities graduates can bring to companies within the local technology sector.

As content writers for high-tech companies, we’re happy to see people recognizing the benefits of blending arts and technology; we’ve seen those benefits first-hand. Graduates from STEM-related fields approach things very methodically. They have to. But, your average users aren’t engineers or computer whizzes. They don’t want the detailed explanation; they just want the answer. Preferably in plain language. Arts graduates play an important role in closing the divide between the detailed explanations that engineers provide, and the straightforward answers that users want.

That divide hits close to home for me. As a woman with one foot on each side of the line between STEM and the Arts, I’ve always felt a bit torn. I’m very proud of my BMath degree. I’m also proud that I use it to write. But, there are still people who see Arts degrees as “useless,” or at least subpar compared to other degrees. Putting more focus on creating STEM graduates can sometimes overshadow the impact of Arts professions and pit one against the other. The Mathie in me applauds efforts that highlight the importance of STEM, while the writer in me defends the resulting implication that Arts are not as important. It’s great to see articles shining a light on the positive contributions that Arts grads make in technology.

There’s plenty of room – and a need – for both STEM and Arts. The technology-savvy writers at Spark Content can show you how well the two complement each other.

* One minor nitpick with the Washington Post article. I would argue with this statement: “There is no way to write a six-page, narratively structured memo and not have clear thinking.” I suspect that plain language could help improve the clarity of their thinking in less than six pages. But, that’s better left for another post.