Translated with DeepL
The federal government plays a key role in tackling the shortage of skilled labour by setting the framework conditions in the education and research sector and funding measures to promote STEM subjects and equal opportunities. These include, for example, the STEM mandates to the academies, the Gender Equality Strategy 2030 or the financial aid within the framework of the funding programmes for gender equality in working life in accordance with Article 14 of the Federal Act. Among other things, these measures aim to increase the proportion of women in STEM education and promote initiatives in favour of women in STEM professions across regions. The coordinated approach, which links and harmonises the various STEM initiatives, increases their quality and enables scaling. This coordination is crucial in order to effectively support the educational and career paths of children, adolescents and young adults - regardless of their region of residence - in terms of equal opportunities.
Following the example of other federalist countries such as the USA or Germany, we recommend the development of a national STEM strategy for Switzerland. This would provide us with a long-term roadmap that involves all stakeholders (cantons, social partners, business) and enables a holistic strategic orientation. A competence centre could coordinate the stakeholders involved and contribute to the dissemination of STEM content by sharing best practices and promoting joint programmes. The aim is to sustainably promote STEM activities and enable continuous support from childhood to the start of a career. Increased international cooperation and securing funding are crucial to the long-term success of STEM promotion.
Measures to increase the scientific capital (Archer et al., 2015) of the population are also important: in addition to scientific interest and knowledge, confidence in the sciences and the associated social and cultural resources should also be increased. In order to increase the objective and subjective value of STEM sciences in society, the social challenges that science addresses must be highlighted - also with regard to inclusion (Evagorou et al., 2024). Furthermore, science must be made tangible through additional spaces and events that bring the fascination of science closer to the population. This could look like the following:
There is a need for action in family policy insofar as the compatibility of private and professional life must be further facilitated. Numerous studies show that women's expectations regarding the compatibility of family and career influence their career choices (Goldin, 2014; Cortes & Pan, 2016) and that these considerations already take place during the orientation phase (Fassa, 2016). Young women could be effectively supported by facilitating access to the labour market and removing existing barriers. This includes the following measures:
Everyone benefits from these measures (and not just women!).
The academic sector in particular continues to suffer from discrimination and gender inequality. Measures to improve equal opportunities include
In addition, assessment criteria in academic careers should be reconsidered, for example through alternative models for research stays abroad and the abolition of age limits in funding programmes.