STEM education: Interdisciplinary, hands-on and inclusive

The STEM disciplines are of central importance for Austria as a business location. Despite many efforts and activities (both in and out of school), too few students still decide to pursue further education in the STEM fields. Parents are also often unaware of the prospects in this field. The surveys from the previous project WTZ-OST/KV MINT showed that placement initiatives should be designed in a participatory and hands-on way and, if possible, also include current developments in digitalisation. In order to facilitate low-threshold access, the formats should be designed to be as outreach-oriented as possible. Based on these results, STEM prototypes were developed that will be expanded and continued in the course of this follow-up project. The insights gained from the conception of the activities of the predecessor project during the Covid-19 pandemic will also be incorporated - the planned activities will be developed in different formats (presence, digital or hybrid) and thus take into account the advancing digitalisation. It is important not only to arouse enthusiasm for STEM topics at an early stage, but also to consider interdisciplinary and diversity-friendly approaches that can serve as models for further developments in the STEM field. The target group of these projects are pupils and (young) scientists as well as the general public, with a special focus on diversity and inclusion.