Why is your company joining the STEM Alliance?

We are pleased to join an effort that is ambitious about addressing the demand for IT skills in Europe. We need more students studying STEM in order to meet the skills demands of tomorrow. The STEM Alliance can help governments move at the pace of innovation and ensure that our future workforce is prepared. By joining the STEM Alliance we expect to work together with companies and governments to find joint solutions to promote and support STEM teaching and learning, with the common goal of meeting future skills demands across Europe.

Why is STEM Education a priority for your company?

We have found in our research that in the tech sector alone the skilled labor shortage could grow to 4.3 million workers by 2030. Jobs in all sectors will require a certain level of tech skills. In order to address this gap we need to identify and develop untapped pools of talent by increasing access to STEM education. We can only fill our talent pipeline if we ensure that students of all genders and backgrounds have access to STEM education. While most emerging technologies in the classroom focus on students, 2020 has taught us the importance of making sure teachers are also part of the digital eco-system. Digital transformation in the classroom is incomplete if educators are not part of the digitization process.

What does your company want to achieve with its support to the STEM Alliance?

Dell Technologies provides the products and services for educators to leverage technology in meaningful and innovative ways for learning experiences. We want to support educator leaders. Classrooms and teaching methods are quickly evolving as data is becoming ubiquitous and people use technology throughout their careers. Soon one's ability to acquire new skills will be valued higher than one's existing knowledge - making the ability to learn even more important. Our research shows that by 2030, 85% of the jobs will be ones that do not exist today. Schools need to prepare students for careers that do not yet exist, businesses need to work with educators to ensure appropriate training is provided, and students and workers need to be prepared to regularly learn new skills. To make lifelong learning more affordable, accessible, and effective, innovative tech and online platforms (e.g. personalized learning, online, peer-to-peer, bootcamps, MOOCs) will need to enhance many traditional classrooms. Working with STEM Alliance will allow us to better understand how technology and learning will interact during this digital transformation.