STEM strategy: an important step to secure the skills of the future
Today, the government's STEM strategy was presented - a long-awaited step to strengthen Sweden's innovative power, competitiveness and secure the skills supply of the future. TechSverige has contributed to the work on the strategy and welcomes it. Sweden needs a STEM strategy to increase the pace of the digital transition and to include more people in the development. It is gratifying to see that issues raised by us, such as the need for more girls in STEM, increasing interest at young ages, investing in engineering education and a continuous dialogue with industry, have been heard.
Over the past year, TechSverige, together with our member companies and partners, has actively worked to highlight the business community's and the IT, telecom, and tech industry's perspective when it comes to strengthening STEM skills in Sweden.
The tech sector is a pillar of the Swedish economy and a key driver of job creation. Despite the fact that the sector has been affected by the economic and global situation, it continues to grow, albeit at a slightly slower pace. For the tech sector to continue to drive economic growth, innovation and job creation, it is essential that Sweden secures the skills supply of the future - of which the STEM strategy is central.
Through a series of meetings in 2024 and 2025, TechSverige, together with its member companies, has participated in roundtables and meetings with ministers, decision-makers and other key players, and has written debate articles and written contributions. All with the aim of highlighting and concretizing the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
We see several of our inputs reflected in the strategy, to name a few;
- Mission aimed at creating interest for more people, including girls, to choose STEM, a work that needs to start already at a young age.
- Addressing the high drop-out rate from engineering education.
- The importance of a platform for dialogue between schools, universities, authorities, industry and other stakeholders, which the decided STEM delegation aims to meet.
It is also positive that the government sets targets for increasing STEM throughout the education chain, from primary school to higher education. In the long term, we may need even more and higher targets.
Digital technologies and digital literacy are an important part of STEM. It is about pupils and students being able to develop knowledge and abilities to use both technical skills, such as programming and coding, and digital tools to investigate, analyse and solve various problems, in order to be prepared for a future labour market. However, during the press conference where the Minister for Education Johan Pehrson presented the government's STEM strategy, the word digitization, digital skills, AI or tech was not mentioned, which is a bit strange. Thankfully, digitalization, AI and new technologies are at least mentioned in the strategy, albeit not in assignments or initiatives.
Sweden is rallying to increase the opportunities for more people to study in STEM - but also underlines the challenges we face."
The results of today's presentation give us reason for optimism. Sweden is joining forces to increase the conditions for more people to study in STEM - but also underlines the challenges we face. In the fall of 2024, the ICILS study was presented, in which Sweden participated for the first time. The study shows that four out of ten students in grade 8 lack basic digital skills, which is alarming when we link it to today's digital society and the labor market that our young people will be equipped for, where digital tools and skills are often a prerequisite. Sweden needs to steer and prioritize here. Especially as another key figure in the debate, taken from TechSverige's Skills Report 2024, is that Sweden will be short of 18,000 tech specialists annually by 2028. This is a clear signal that we must continue to make strong investments in the skills area to meet future needs. Seen from an international perspective, this is even more important: countries that want to join the arms race must invest in more IT and tech specialists.
The strategy highlights that the business community can help to raise the profile of its sectors and generate interest among young people. TechSverige stands ready to contribute to the continued implementation of the strategy. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the government and other stakeholders to ensure competitiveness, innovation and sustainable development.
Pia Högset, industrial policy expert