#STEMhelden ('STEM heroes')
QUICK: programme-initiative
#STEMhelden ('STEM heroes')
Country:
Belgium
Education level:
Primary Education, Secondary Education
Year start:
2020
Status:
Ongoing
Short summary:
#STEMhelden ('STEM heroes') is a large-scale media campaign aimed at 10-14 year olds, parents and teachers broadcasted on public television. In each episode a 'child reporter' explores a specific STEM discipline and their relation to a societal challenge. The campaign is funded by the Belgian sector funds of specific industries and coordinated by the Flemish STEM platform and Technopolis (science centre). The video materials are aligned with relevant curriculum standards and can be used in classroom education.
Description and objectives:
#STEMhelden ('STEM heroes') is a media campaign consisting of short films for 10-14 year olds, their parents and their teachers. The videos show that different STEM-profiles in companies solving a problem that effect the society, with a lot of attention for gender-sensitive language and images.
The objective of the initiative is to encourage more young people, and specifically girls, to enroll in STEM education and STEM oriented VET. Flanders, like so many countries, suffers from a shortage of STEM-profiles. The shortage of girls in STEM-jobs in particular is certainly remarkable. The shortage of girls is very clearly visible in more practically-oriented STEM-education in secondary schools (15-18 years of age). In Flanders, young people aged 15 and over can choose a study program. That is why it is important to provide them with an inspiring picture of what a job as a #STEMhero could look like before the age of 15.
During the Corona crisis, the health and care-professions were rightly praised, but it was less visible that the STEM professionals ensured that the country kept going. Think for example about the supply of electricity, the availability of the internet, etc. These are stories that the #STEM heroes series tries to tell.
The concept is always the same: a theoretically trained STEM professional and a practically trained STEM professional show how, together, they ensure that their company can solve a socially relevant problem. Examples include recycled plastic, safer and more environmental friendly cars, safety of money in the bank, easy access to job vacancies on the labour market,...
In Flanders, there are many STEM-initiatives, mostly independent of each other. The project of the STEM heroes links all the initiatives through a HUB operation. STEM is already embedded in their own regular functioning and the #STEMheroes helps strengthening the reach and impact of existing initiatives. The project is currently being organized by the Flemish STEM-platform and Technopolis.
Reach:
The #STEMheroes campaign is targeted at young people (10-14 year olds), parents and teachers and broadcasted on national public television as well as via social media. The campaign is in alignment with the school curriculum of this age group and can be used as a standard reference in classroom education. For this purpose there is already a cooperation with the Flemish study orientation service, parents' associations, employment organisations, teachers' associations, teacher training colleges.
Impact:
The initiative aims to increase the number of young people, and specifically girls in STEM secondary education. This objective is part of the Flemish STEM-action plan 2012-2020, which aims to increase female participation in STEM secondary education 33.33% by 2021. In addition, the WiSTEM²D consortium associated with this project wants to inspire 50.000 girls in the BeNeLux to choose for a STEM-education. The number of young people in STEM-education in Flanders is monitored annually (STEM-monitor) with specific attention for girls in STEM. We expect an statistic relevant shift. A follow-up qualitatively study can provide us with the insight of the impact of this specific program.
Budget and funding model:
The initiative was funded by the Flemish 'sector funds' (specifically the wood sector, food sector, semiconductor sector paper and cardboard sector), and coordinated by the Flemish STEM platform. It is one of the core tasks of the Flemish STEM platform to network and play a connecting role in the Flemish STEM-ecosystem. Individual companies participate trough the WiSTEM²D consortium. The Flemish STEM-platform and Technopolis also participate in this consortium. This consortium includes companies such as Total, BASF, Janssens Pharma, ING, EXXON, GALAPAGOS, etc. with the objective to inspire girls to choose for STEM. The consortium contributed financially to #STEMheroes.
November 4, 2020
Press release by the VRT (Belgian public broadcasting company) about the launch of the #STEMhelden campaign (see related article). The #STEMhelden campaign is a series of mini-documentaries...
July 1, 2019
The Flemish STEM platform is an advisory organisation. In outlines recommendations to the Flemish government for the development of a Flemish STEM action plan 2020-2030 (following...
January 15, 2012
The Flemish STEM plan ('Actieplan voor het stimuleren van loopbanen in wiskunde, exacte wetenschappen en techniek, 2012-2020') is the overarching STEM strategy for the Belgian region...
#STEMhelden - Example video #2: Airforce (Dutch only)
Wednesday, 25 November 2020
This video is an example of #STEMhelden ('STEM heroes') video documentary. #STEMhelden is an initiative of the Flemish STEM platform and Technopolis (science centre). For all video...
#STEMhelden - Example video #1: Banks (Dutch only)
Wednesday, 25 November 2020
This video is an example of #STEMhelden ('STEM heroes') video documentary. #STEMhelden is an initiative of the Flemish STEM platform and Technopolis (science centre). For all video...
#STEMhelden - Example video #3: Newsroom (Dutch only)
Wednesday, 4 November 2020
This video is an example of #STEMhelden ('STEM heroes') video documentary. #STEMhelden is an initiative of the Flemish STEM platform and Technopolis (science centre). For all video...