Careers in STEM - with Queen Anne's Alumna Lauren Headley

On Wednesday 22 January, our Lower Sixth students were joined by Queen Anne’s alumna Lauren Headley, for a talk about her journey to a career in STEM.

Lauren left Queen Anne’s in 2001, after she had completed her GCSEs in U5. She briefly attended Henley College to pursue A Levels (none of which were STEM subjects), but soon felt that the structure of the college was not right for her.

The next couple of years were a whirlwind adventure of trying out different career paths and courses. Such endeavours included personal training, becoming a diving instructor, working in a tanning salon, and enrolling in a range of drama courses.

After a while, Lauren still was not feeling satisfied or accomplished balancing lots of different ‘mini-careers’ to get by. “I wanted to wake up in the morning and do something that I really wanted to do” she said. “So I thought “Okay, I’ll become a dentist!””

So, without any A Levels, and minimal experience in studying STEM subjects, Lauren managed to gain a place on an access course at Westminster Kingsway College. After completing the course, she applied to study Biomedical Science at university, and gained a place at King’s College London. She achieved a first, and then applied for and completed a Masters course in Integrated Physiology and Pharmacology for Research.

Lauren is now half way through her PhD, at Imperial College London. Her research, funded by the charity Asthma UK, draws from her interest in the respiratory system from her time as a diving instructor. She aims to make the diagnosis of asthma much easier, by extracting and analysing micro ribonucleic acids (RNAs) and proteins found in the nose. “I’m basically a snot scientist!” she affectionately exclaimed to the girls.

Now on her seventh year of scientific study, Lauren broke down the costs of her higher education courses, how she covered these, the funding she received, and the options available to those wanting to pursue a similar career and study path. She was even kind enough to bring along a number of brochures for the girls, with further details of the funding that certain institutions can offer those undertaking research in STEM subjects.

So what’s next for Lauren? After her PhD, she herself would like to go into law, one of many routes her studies have opened up to her. She broke down some of career fields which having a degree in a STEM subject can lead to. These varied from marketing and consulting, to researching and teaching. “Having a STEM degree opens up so many more avenues which you may never have thought of before!” said Lauren. “You can use your STEM skills in so many other subject areas.”

Finally, Lauren touched upon the importance of women in science. She showed our Lower Sixth girls some examples of how women are still overlooked in STEM fields.

Scientist Frances Kelsey was only allowed entry into the pharmacology career sector because it was assumed, due to her name, that she was a man. If it had not been for her opinion as a woman, the FDA would have authorised a drug that caused serious birth defects.

Sally Ride, the first American woman to go to space, was repeatedly asked questions such as “Will the flight affect your reproductive organs?” and “Do you weep when things go wrong on the job?” in important press conferences. In preparation for her trip, male engineers from NASA decided that she should need a makeup kit, and one hundred tampons – for a seven-day trip!

These are just a few of the examples that Lauren gave, which prove how important women having representation and a voice in STEM career fields really is. “Having a female opinion has protected a lot of people and saved a lot of lives.”

To close, Lauren shared some advice directly from none other than Helen Sharman – the first British astronaut, who currently also works at Imperial College London:

“When I decided to study chemistry at university, I had no idea where it could lead, and that situation is even more relevant today: we think that over half the jobs that young people will have in their lifetimes do not exist yet.

My message is simply that STEM subjects open doors that other subjects often cannot and in a world full of fresh opportunity, with STEM subjects we can have as many adventures and as much excitement as we want.”

Lauren was engaging, funny, and connected with her fellow Queen Anne’s girls well. She shared many interesting stories from her life, and gave useful advice on pursuing a career in STEM – even if it’s by taking an unconventional route!
Our Lower Sixth students were eager to speak to Lauren more and ask her questions after her talk, and she was kind enough to do so. The girls left the talk incredibly inspired, and with the right resources to set them well on their way to achieving their higher education goals.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Lauren for giving up her time to come back to Queen Anne’s and share her story and knowledge with our current students.

If you are one of our Queen Anne’s Alumnae and would like to get in touch, please contact [email protected]