If you are a parent and your son doesn't do well in school but seems to be interested in tinkering and building things and looks like he might suit STEM but does not have the scores, sit with him and help him crack those exams. DO NOT send him to a tutor, I literally mean sit with him and make a plan and sit with him and help him execute it. schools and colleges are less about education and more about cracking exams…
> It was only when I went to university and research was more important than rote learning
I saw this at university as well. The very few girls in engineering did well on homework and tests but the guys kicked ass in the lab work, but maybe not the lab reports.