McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University

Albert Einstein once said, “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”

McCormick faculty member Liz Gerber agrees — particularly when it comes to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education.

In a recent U.S. News & World Report op-ed, “STEM Students Must Be Taught to Fail,” Gerber argued that STEM educators must encourage not just perfection but risk-taking among students.

“If our students are going to stop deadly pandemics, solve the energy crisis, and cure world hunger and poverty, they will have to be prepared to fail, over and over — and more important, they will need to know how to learn from those failures,” wrote Gerber, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and Allen K. and Johnnie Cordell Breed Junior Professor of Design.

Read the U.S. News & World Report op-ed.