A collection of pamphlets has been published for young people to take as an example the professions related to science and technology
The Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and Elhuyar today presented a collection of books at the foral palace to inspire young people in the professions related to science and technology. Imanol Lasa, deputy of Economic Promotion, Tourism and Rural Environment, Jon Abril, director general of Elhuyar, and Aitziber Lasa, head of Education Elhuyar STEAM and director of the project present. The collection, composed of three pamphlets, aims to promote science and technology among youth, the result of work between professionals of companies and institutions of different profiles of these areas of the Basque Country.
Selected project within the call for grants from the Council to promote talent and learning, developed by Elhuyar. According to Eustat, in the Basque Country in four years there has been a 16.6% decrease in the number of students enrolled in STEM. 39% of students from the FP and the University were graduates in these areas. This reality is even more evident in the case of women: Students who choose STEM branches only represent 9% of the total number of newly incorporated FP and 31% in the university. This trend does not correspond to the demand of professionals, since in the last two years the business demand for STEM profiles from FP has grown by 56% and that of STEM university profiles by 25%.
Imanol Lasa has considered it essential to change this situation. He says that 80% of future jobs will require STEAM skills. “We don’t know what the world will look like in a few decades, but we know that knowledge and skills related to science and theology will be fundamental in all economic sectors and to respond to the new challenges of society. Knowledge and qualification are the keys to future well-being and competitiveness.”
Faced with the crisis caused by the pandemic, he stressed the need to “strengthen the commitment to science and technology”. “If we don’t want to be left behind in the big transitions that are underway, like digitization, we have to work on 4.0 talent from youth and tackle the gender gap we have in this field. In the field of STEM we need initiatives that break stereotypes and provide effective information, and based on this initiative developed by Elhuyar. It fully shares the needs of Gipuzkoa and the priorities of the Council.”
Jon Abril, CEO of Elhuyar, highlighted the importance of the experiences and the community. “All the research shows that the experiences influence the aspirations of the future of young people, know real examples, know role models, know as real as possible the activity related to STEM professions and live as protagonists. The participation and commitment of the entire scientific and technological fabric, as well as the development of methodologies and knowledge that allow them to work on these purposes, is essential for this.” In fact, he added that the brochures presented today are the result of collaboration. “In the process started in February 2019 we met professionals from companies and organizations of different profiles: professors, researchers, members of development agencies, innovation agents, members of research centers, scientific disseminators, youth leisure agents…”.
Around the collection of three leaflets with illustrations and explanatory texts by Pernan Goñi, Aitziber Lasa, head of education and guide of the Elhuyar STEAM project has given details. All three brochures will be available at zientzia.eus/steam for free download:
1-STEAM and STEM to inspire young people: The brochure contains the keys to changing the educational model that the definition of STEAM education implies: XXI. 21st century skills; girls, women and STEAM; why STEAM; in schools, what is STEAM and outside the centers?
2- IDEAS for STEAM projects to inspire young people: this brochure contains tools, ideas, explanations and resources for young people to carry out science and technology projects.
3- STEM professionals to inspire young people: The STEAM education proposal creates the figure of the STEM professionals model and analyzes how we build or how we should build them. This brochure presents what influences the future professional expectations of young people and presents the reflections and exemplary practices among the agents we are working to channel the meetings between young people and professionals.
Finally, Aitziber Lasa explained that they will launch the dissemination of STEAM education on their networks and websites. To do this, from this week the comic strips illustrated by Pernan Goñi will be published on the social networks of Elhuyar and in the educational section STEAM of zientzia.eus (zientzia.eus/steam). In addition, this website will include news, reports, expert interviews or videos related to STEAM education.
‘Table of Gluons’
The brochure collection is included in the project “Gluon Table”. Through this project, Elhuyar is building a collaborative network between STEM professionals who want to inspire young people. The Network consists of the following agents: GROWM (Centre de Recerca per a l’Educació Científica i Matemática), Debegesa, Iraurgi Berritzen, Innobasque, DIPC (Donostia International Physics Center), CFM (Centro de Física de Materiales), CIC nanoGUNE, Departamento de Educación del Gobierno Vasco, and Anodanod.
The agents have been called “gluons” by Elhuyar, inspired by the similarity with the tail effect produced by gluons inside atoms, and hence the name of the project.