What A-level subjects did you take (if you did)?

I did Maths, Physics and … French. I recall being asked to go and see the Head of Chemistry at my school, Mr Fox, who sternly advised me that this was a perilous choice for my career ahead. Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths being pushed hard back in the 1980s. And today we have STEM ambassadors going into schools.

Nothing wrong with STEM – important subjects, but as *part of* the curriculum that is needed. Steve Jobs nailed it for me in his 2011 quote at his last Apple product launch:

“It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough – that it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing”.

Innovation needs much else besides only STEM. After all, as Alan Atkinson noted in his 2006 paper ‘Sustainability is Dead, Long Live Sustainability’:

“[a]t precisely the moment when humanity’s science, technology, and economy have grown to the point that we can monitor and evaluate all the major systems that support life, all over the Earth, we have discovered that most of these systems are being systematically degraded and destroyed by our science, technology, and economy”.

I’m so pleased I did the subjects I did. How about you?

#STEM#innovation