STEAM Jobs Around the World

Summary

• Students will investigate healthcare jobs from around the world and examine a brief synopsis of each
• Students will explore a nursing profile from Let’s Talk Science as well as nursing careers from different continents to examine salaries and job requirement differences 
• Students will examine appropriate resources based on personal interests and create a media presentation to enlighten and share with other students 

Setting the Stage

International travel has many benefits beyond those associated with tourism. When coupled with work, these benefits include being immersed in and learning about a different culture, opportunity to learn a new language, gaining valuable work-related experience, and more. 

In this lesson, students will explore a STEAM career of interest to them and investigate the difference in educational requirements, salary and work requirements locally and abroad. During their exploration students will develop their knowledge of financial literacy, research/investigation skills, numeracy, digital literacy, media literacy, social justice and equity issues, making connections, critical thinking, and problem-solving. 

Materials & Preparation

• Computers or tablets with internet access (1 per student or group)
• Ability to access Google Slides or a PowerPoint presentation
• STEAM Jobs Around the World slideshow reproducible [Google slides] [pptx] [PDF]- for teacher and potentially for students
• STEAM Jobs Around the World: Career Inquiry reproducible [Google doc] [Word doc] [PDF] -1 per student or group

What To Do

• Teachers could begin this lesson by initiating a discussion (whole class or small groups) on the value of travel. Some questions to stimulate students’ thinking include: 
  • Why do people travel? 
  • Do you like to travel to new countries? 
  • What are the benefits of travelling (to the traveller, to the local people)? 
  • Where have you travelled? 
  • Has anyone travelled because their parents were working abroad? If so, describe the experience. 
  • Would you like to travel to a different country and work there? Why or why not?

After students have discussed the value of international travel, teachers could explain that many of the jobs we have here in Canada can be found elsewhere in the world. Working in jobs in a foreign country provides many benefits including allowing people to make a difference across the world or gain work/life experience in another country. Sometimes the work location becomes a base from which other, more tourist-related travel can occur.

• Teachers could use the STEAM Jobs Around the World slideshow to provide an example of how one career in the healthcare sector (nursing) could look in a variety of countries.  Teachers should note that the salary amounts listed in this slidedeck are estimates, obtained from only one site, intended for discussion purposes only and may not reflect currently available salaries. Teachers should provide students with access to a second source of salaries around the world such as SalaryExpert. Let’s Talk Science does not make any claims as to the veracity of the amounts listed or to the methods used in the calculations.
• Teachers may wish to include discussions on other aspects of seeking employment overseas (obtaining visas, vaccinations, safety, etc.). Additionally, teachers should help students understand that salary does not tell the whole story (i.e., the cost of living and living standards vary from country to country and what seems like a very large salary might mean living below a standard to which they are accustomed). A source for looking at cost of living in various locations is SalaryExpert. 
• Teachers should clarify with students the importance of doing extensive research before accepting any job offer, particularly one outside their country. The importance of obtaining multiple sources of information as a means of verifying claims made on various websites should also be addressed. Generally, the best sources of information will come directly from the employer or the government agency doing the recruiting. 
• Using the Meet a RN slide, teachers could explore thise career profile of a registered practical nurse or a registered cardiac care nurse with students. Students may find comparing the “My career path” tab particularly interesting as this one person explains that nursing was not a career they had planned to have, and the other planned for this career from childhood.
• Before exploring the rest of the slides with the class, teachers could list the countries that will be highlighted. Students could be asked questions such as:
  • Which country do you think would have the highest pay for nurses? Why might this be? (There is a link to specific earning and demographic information for each country)
  • What could be the draw of working in this country? 
  • What is the dominant gender in this profession? 
  • Would you like to visit/work in this country? Why or why not?
• The link Top 10 International Health Jobs can also be explored. This can allow students to see that there are various jobs under “nursing and health care” besides what may be obvious. This link could be useful later when students are doing the Investigative Inquiry.
• After they have viewed the presentation, teachers could provide students with the STEAM Jobs Around the World: Career Inquiry. In this assignment, students select a STEAM job that is most interesting to them and then 3 places where to do this job (i.e., one local and 2 abroad options for this career).
• Teachers could have students present their findings in a slideshow, a pamphlet or flyer, or any other approved creative manner.

Let’s Talk Science appreciates the work and contributions of Andrea Marshall, Rebecca Lovisek, Tory Shaw and Stephanie Campbell in the development of this lesson.