11-19 Keynote: Inclusive science in practice: Strategies, stories and the changing curriculum

This session explored inclusive science through the lens of lived experience - my own as a disabled person, and that of the deaf, disabled and neurodivergent young people whose voices shape the work of Lightyear Foundation. Rather than approaching inclusion as a checklist of strategies, the session focused on what happens when personal experience reveals the everyday assumptions, barriers and missed opportunities that still exist within science education.

I began by reflecting on my own experiences of education and work, and how low expectations, unconscious bias and well-meaning decisions can quietly narrow opportunities. These patterns are echoed again and again in the stories shared by the young people featured in the session. Many spoke about being excluded from practical science, not trusted with specialist equipment, or subtly steered away from science because of assumptions about ability, behaviour or “readiness”. Over time, these experiences accumulate, and a poverty of expectation takes hold - where learners stop seeing themselves as scientists at all.

The session shared examples from Lightyear Foundation's programmes, including immersive sensory science experiences and work inspiration visits across sectors such as aerospace and motorsport. When barriers are removed and expectations are raised, the impact is immediate and visible. Young people who had previously been positioned as passive learners became confident experimenters, presenters and problem-solvers. Seeing relatable, near-peer role models - people just a step ahead - was particularly powerful in helping them imagine a future in science.

These personal stories matter because they show what is lost when science education is not inclusive. Only around 10% of the UK STEM workforce identifies as disabled, despite disabled people making up nearly a quarter of the population. This is not a talent gap; it is a systems issue that filters people out long before careers begin.

The session closed with a simple analogy. Inclusive science education should be thought of less like a single-crop field and more like a wildflower meadow. A meadow thrives not because every plant is the same, but because the conditions allow many different species to grow. When the soil is healthy and space is intentionally made for diversity, resilience and richness follow. By designing science education more like a wildflower meadow - flexible, inclusive and shaped by lived experience – we create space for more young people to belong, contribute and thrive, strengthening science itself in the process.