School-company collaboration

The members of the SEER Network will work together to produce state of art knowledge on STE(A)M education,
collect pedagogical resources for teachers and schools, and collaborate to build the foundations
of the SEER Roadmaps.

The objectives of Together4STEM programme in 2023 are deployed into 2 Workstreams:

1. Strengthen business-education initiatives to inspire and empower young people in STEM

2. Ensure a smooth transition to work for current and future generations.

The 2 Workstreams aims respectively to: Learn, Share & Co-create:

• Amplify the impact of company STEM initiatives by developing a common methodology and share best practices

• Strengthen existing company STEM initiatives by exchanging knowledge and provide insights at EU level

  Pool Companies learning content for stronger impact:

• Pool together existing resources in the format of a website (e.g. STEM@Home) and

  written material to be disseminated (e.g. Climate Education Toolkit)

• Analyse educational perspectives and needs for online platforms by organizing

  Teacher Working Groups

  Local Collaboration:

• Build Local STEM Networks to organize school activities supported by the Climate

  Education Toolkit

• Gain knowledge on quality of materials by measuring impact through activities

  - How are they measured / what are the KPI’s?
  Before 2023: Outreach/visitors STEM@Home website, Downloads of the Climate Education Toolkit From 2023 on: Together 4 STEM will conduct an impact measurement after all activities organised under the 2023 plan. The survey will measure the impact and quality of the platform's materials and activities.

  - Do these objectives relate to a broader (government) strategy? If so, which one (link) and how?

• Pact for Youth: The aim of the European Pact for Youth was to improve partnerships

  between business and education to boost the chances of young people getting jobs. The Pact, initiated by CSR Europe is an appeal to business, social partners, education and training providers and other stakeholders to develop or consolidate partnerships in support of youth employability and inclusion. Together 4 STEM project emerged from this pact and will continue its legacy and serve as an example to build bridges between education and business.

• European Year of Youth 2022: In 2022 “Together 4 STEM Goes Green” was announced in May and launched its Climate Education Toolkit later in October. This initiative contributed directly to the objectives of the Year, namely

o To make young people aware of the opportunities provided by the green and digital transitions;

o To help young people become more engaged and active citizens;

• European Year of Skills 2023: The European Year of Youth mission remains a deployment point and continues to live on in the European Year of Skills 2023. Therefore, Together 4 STEM remains committed to this and the programme is oriented on the importance of

putting young people at the heart of this European Year, in order to bring about a change of mindset in lifelong learning and the further acquisition of STEM skills.

The Mobile Bioclass project started in Estonia in 2014 with the aim to introduce the biosciences in Estonian schools. The programme brought the latest DNA testing and research methods to schools all over Estonia.

The Mobile Class project started originally in Lithuania by Thermo Fisher Scientific and has since been the main collaboration partner for the University of Tartu (project coordinator). Thermo Fisher Scientific is providing the project with laboratory tools and equipment ever since. The instructors of the programme are University of Tartu students mainly from science and technology faculty.

The main target group for the Mobile Bioclass is high school students. The project also aims to bring its programme to the smaller schools that otherwise do not have the possibilities to visit research laboratories and universities.

The programme lasts for about six hours and is for 24 students at the time with 6 instructors. The necessary tools for the programme are brought to the school from University of Tartu. The programme consists of a lecture (about four hours) and practical experiment (about two hours). The programme uses a DNA PCR analysis as its practical part to consolidate the theoretical knowledge.

The objective of the project is to popularize biosciences and introduce the modern methods for researching DNA and technology used in the biotechnology laboratories. As a result, the project increases the knowledge about the learning opportunities of biology and gene technology. The objective is to visit one school per week during a school year with the emphasis on smaller schools.

The objectives are measured by the number of schools the Mobile Class has visited and the number of kilometers traveled doing that.

IT24 is a project organised by the Basque Institute of Telecommunication Engineers. The programma seeks to inspire young people to be technology leaders and solve problems in their lives and their community. It is aimed at young people from 12 upwards. There are two categories: Junior from 12 to 16 and Senior from 16 onwards. The participants solve a real problem set up by one of the partner companies and they have 24 hours within the same complex to solve it in diverse teams. The activity is organised annually.

The project’s main objective is to inspire young people to be technology leaders and solve problems in their lives and their community.

Junior Category Objectives:

• Foster STEAM by means of imagining to be entrepreneurs
• Learn to appreciate technology through clear examples
• Bring companies to the classrooms so students learn about the local business fabric and its problems

Senior Category Objectives

• Bring STEAM centre-stage in any challenge facing companies in the 21st century
• Encourage entrepreneurship
• Foster STEAM degrees among young people aged 16 to 18
• Opportunity for the participating companies to attract young talent

The initiative’s objective is in line with the objectives of the Basque Institute of Telecommunication Engineers, which is foster STEAM studies due to the lack of vocation in technology degree. It also seeks to overcome the gender gap in those professions.

ESTCube is a student satellite project and the first satellite in the world that attempted to use an electric solar wind sail (e-sail). The project aims to give students an opportunity to give their theoretical knowledge a practical output by building real-life satellites.

For every project, a team of engineers, mechanics, programmes and students is put together. With the team, a detailed plan and goals are set. For the ESTCube-1, the goal of the project was to successfully launch a student satellite. During the time in orbit, the satellite was actively used for taking images and downloading data, while students rapidly continued improving software for all subsystems. With this, the satellite was launched in 2013 and by 2014, the attitude determination and control system software reached its full functionality. In 2015, the batteries of the satellite got empty and the connection with the satellite ended.

Based on the good results from ESTCube-1, the activities continued with a new ESTCube-2 project in 2017. ESTCube-2 is a technology demonstration mission for deorbiting technology plasma break, the interplanetary propulsion system electric solar wind sail and advanced satellite subsystem solutions.

The ESTCube team is also participating in several bigger events and seminars. In addition to that, they also organize events that introduce the space technology and opportunities in the project. Every summer, the ESTCube Team is accepting summer traineeship members.

The main objective of the project is to promote space technology as a career path, by giving students an opportunity to gain practical knowledge about space technology and launch satellites that are made in Estonia. One of the goals is also to develop innovation in the field and put more emphasis in the field of research.

At the national level, the objective is to develop a research-based economy and use smart specialisation and launch more technology-based companies. Estonia faces a problem with the lack of engineers and technology developers in the near future. Therefore, it is important to bring more students to this career path.

Solaride is a project for students who want to contribute hands-on to solving our dependence on fossil fuels. To do so, the students are building a working solar car and taking it to the ultimate test run in Australia in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. The ultimate objective of Solaride is to promote engineering and its career options in Estonia.

The project gathers ambitious students from different fields, such as engineers, electronics, mechanics, software etc. from all over Estonia. The project has grown continuously into the size of an average company. Currently there are almost 70 team members. The team also has various prominent mentors from universities and companies to share their know-how with the students. Besides that, Solaride has strong support from cooperation with several Estonian universities and gives participating students the opportunity to gain practical knowledge and compete in an international competition. With this, the project promotes engineering and technology among the pupils and students.

The ultimate objective of Solaride is to promote engineering and its career options in Estonia. As a country Estonia faces a serious shortage of engineers and specialists, now and in the future. The overall aim of the project is to promote STEM career paths through hands-on experiences early on. The promotion of technology and engineering is therefore important to bring people to engineering and have the necessary workforce in the future. The programme also contributes to the development of innovation and science-based economy in Estonia. According to the analysis on the workforce needed in Estonia, in 10 to 15 years, 60% of the occupations are the kind of which we do not have today. Therefore, adapting with new and novel technology is critical.

The Merkuur programme has developed mobile workshops to introduce various trades, techniques and tools in the metal and wood industries to young people and to offer them hands-on opportunities to test the tasks associated with these trades in order to raise their career awareness and competitiveness in the fields of technology and engineering.

Merkuur has two mobile workshops and more than sixty different learning solutions to provide young people with hands-on opportunities to carry out tasks in metal and woodwork, electronics, bionics and many other engineering fields. The Mobile Workshops are self-built mobile classrooms and therefore workshop activities can take place all over Estonia. Schools, vocational school and other interested organizations can request the mobile classroom service at their premises.

In the beginning, the Mobile Workshop service and its activities were provided as a form of non-formal learning. Since 2018, the team has consistently worked on developing partnerships with various educational schools, vocational schools and colleges. Teachers and mentors of mobile workshops organise technology lessons, project days and hobby groups in schools. In addition to daily activities, the team has developed a modern methodological material used to introduce CNC equipment to young people and to implement their new knowledge both individually and in teams, while carrying out product development tasks, testing various material treatment methods and preparing metal and wood products with a real purpose.

The objective is to give young people practical knowledge about engineering and technology, which is measured by the number of kids participating in the activities of Mobile Workshop.

The objectives of the workshops are related to a broader government strategy to raise the popularity of engineering as a career choice due to the fact that Estonia is facing a shortage of engineers, failing to meet the current labour market demand as well as the expected demand in the future. In addition, the programme is associated with the aim to develop a research-intensive economy. By educating young people and giving them early access to hands-on engineering possibilities, it increases the interest of students in starting a career in engineering.

The objective of the Future Ways-programme is to improve the level of education of young people and to facilitate the transition to higher education in these subject areas. This objective was set by the government, in line with related government strategies for STEM. To support the implementation of the objective, the consortium partners implement a wide range of activites, spanning multiple education levels. These include:

1.  Experience-focused workshops focusing on innovation
2.  Innovative and interactive roadshows that arouse students’ interest in the profession
3.  Company visits at leading organizations
4.  Summer camps with career orientation and skills development modules
5.  Skills development workshops for the cumulatively disadvantaged
6.  Organization of open days at the universities
7.  Training of trainers for staff members
8.  The preparation and methodological guidelines of curriculum integration

The members of the consortium (higher education instituions) took part directly in the activities. For example, iin the design of the high school quiz, where playful yet professional and thought-provoking questions were formulated designed to arouse interest in the topic and technical training. The consortium partners also participated directly in the compilation and implementation of the summer camp program. In the camp, they provided lectures on technical care / engineering t raining, the transport of the future, self-driving and electric vehicles and their effects. The lectures were designed to be understandable for the target age-group. Furthermore, during the one-week camp, students were continuously mentored and participated in teams looking for innovative solutions to future mobility and urban problems. In particular, the interactive presentations and the direct conversation with the students were well-received. Mentors encouraged students by passing on their personal experiences. Students were able to hear first-hand about the courses, new research findings, and opportunities.

Norwegian companies are reporting a major need for technologists. Technical skilled workers, engineers and scientists are in high demand, and these are all fields where women are in distinct minority. The aim of the Girls and Technology-programme is therefore to increase the number of girls that choose education within technology fields – both practical and theoretical. 

The programme was founded in 2003. A partnership consisting of several social partners and the University of Agder came together to improve the recruitment of girls to the university's technology study programs. Through events with female role models, they were able to inspire and inform girls about the possibilities within technology education. 

The share of women in technology studies in Norway remains low. Currently 3-11% of technical vocational students are women (Statistics Norway, 2015). 20% of Norwegian engineering students are women (Norwegian Centre for Research Data, 2017). In light of this, the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) decided to upscale the project to a national level in 2016. With funding from the Ministry of Children and Equality the project has now been carried out for four years and continues in 2020. In 2018 The Norwegian Society of Engineers and Technologists (NITO) and The National Centre for STEM recruitment (NCR) joined the project to strengthen the team and expand the project further. Its objective is still to increase the share of women in technology studies. Technology in this context is defined according to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Vocational training and education is included in the project goals. The three subgoals for the project are:

• To increase the share of women in STEM higher education
• To Increase the share of women in technical vocational education and training
• To Increase the share of women in technical vocational colleges

To achieve this the project is using young female role models, under education or with jobs within technology, to show and inform about the different opportunities you have as a young girl to make your first educational choices. It is also an important aim to show the variety in what technology is and how it can be be used to improve the world and contribute to a more sustainable society. Another important aspect of the project is to show the diversity of people, with different backgrounds and competence, that is necessary to develop technology suitable for all kinds of people and needs.  

The methodology that pervades all activities in the project is using young, female role models to motivate and inform about technology studies and work possibilities within technology (see related studies in background documents). The programme implements a wide variety of activities.

An annual national tour has been arranged since 2016. In 2019 the tour consisted of 17 separate events all over Norway. The target group was girls in year 9 and 10 of lower secondary school. Approximately 7000 girls participated altogether. Each event lasts for 3 hours, and consists of various short talks from role models, talk show-style chats with a moderator, short video clips, demonstration of new technologies and competitions and workshops to increase the interaction between the audience and the role models. A success factor for the individual talks was the balance between personal experience and information about a given field of education or occupation. For each event we secured a variety of backgrounds – from various technology fields, and different levels of education to fulfil each individual subgoal as described below. In addition, career counselors and teachers were invited to the event and provided with posters and info material about STEM education pathways.

In 2019 Girls and Technology also hosted two live streams on YouTube. The format of the live streams was similar to the national tour events but limited to 45 minutes. Girls from year 9 and 10 in lower secondary school were invited to participate and the live streams had more than 3000 viewers. In addition, the Girls and Technology network of universities organized local Girls and Technology events on one shared day in February. The target group for these events were girls aged between 15-19. 8 universities participated in a total of 7 events, and a total of 1850 girls participated. There were also stands with various activities during the breaks (more information on the programme's reach below).

In 2020 the physical tour was replaced by a digital tour with 11 live streams, one for each county. The streams were modified to each county with local role models and representatives from regional industries. A total of 9 600 girls in grade 9 and 10 attended the live streams. 

In connection with the national tours in 2017-2019, NHO, The Norwegian Society of Engineers and Technologists (NITO) and NCR conducted a national competition for Technology students to win a study trip to NASA in Houston. The competition got significant attention at universities, in social media and in traditional media. The six winners got to experience a dream week of meeting astronauts, engineers, flight directors and many others working with space technology. The trip was communicated through daily updates on all social medias, and a film was produced after the trip (video 3). Most importantly, the winners were used as role models in the national Girls and Technology tour. Their presentations about the trip and space technology were tremendously popular among the girls in the audience. In 2020 the prize was a trip to Svalbard which also generated a lot of attention amongst students.

In adittion to the annual tour, social media and traditional media is used to reach girls year round and also to reach parents and career councelors.

STEM Ondernemers voor de Klas (‘STEM entrepreneurs in the classroom’), or ‘STEM OvK’. Is an initiative of the Flemish organisation ‘Vlaamse Jonge Ondernemingen’ (VLAJO) aimed at engaging students with STEM-driven entrepreneurship at a young age. The programme is a spin-off of the existing ‘Ondernemers voor de Klas’ (‘Entrepeneurs in the classroom’ – OVK) initiative. The programme facilitates guest-lectures by STEM entrepreneurs in STEM courses that provide context to the curriculum, highlighting the practical application and opportunities of STEM in enterprises and the link between STEM and societal challenges like climate change, healthcare, etc. Each guest-lecture is followed by a ‘wrap-up’ and evaluation organised by the teacher (supported by VLAJO).

Guest-lecturers are matched to schools in their geographic vicinity by a matching-programme (supported by a programme coordinator). After a school has been selected, the guest lecturer provides a one-hour guest lecture with time for questions. Each school year is kicked-off by a ‘boegbeeld’ (programme ambassador), a high-level company representative who’s guest lecture is used for broader campaigning purposes (and often covered by national media).

The main goal of the project is to enthuse students (14-18 years) for (STEM) entrepreneurship. On the organisational level VLAJO sets yearly benchmarks for the number of guest lectures, number of lecturers, number students and number of teachers. In addition, the quality of the activities is assessed through a questionnaire among participating teachers and guest-lecturers.