Why Is STEM Important

STEM is critical to help the United Kingdom remain a world leader in innovation

Why Is Stem Important?

STEM is not just important – it is crucial to our society. So much of what we take for granted in our society has been designed, developed and built thanks to STEM, from the mobile phone in your hand to the aeroplanes you fly in. Through STEM, we can solve our society’s problems, large and small – people with STEM skills are solving healthcare, mobility, energy and agricultural challenges, amongst others. STEM, in short, makes our society, and the world, a better place. 

Who benefits from STEM?

The short answer is: Everybody!

Think about the people you know. Perhaps you have a grandparent who’s less mobile than they used to be but who can get around thanks to their mobility scooter. Perhaps you have a friend abroad who you can keep in touch with thanks to video calls and social media. Perhaps a parent’s new medication has made them the picture of good health. Everyone’s life is, in some way, improved by STEM – and because STEM industries are always working hard to innovate and to improve what they can offer, our lives will just keep on getting better.

And because STEM industries are more productive than the wider economy, strong STEM industries mean a stronger economy, helping to raise prosperity and living standards for everyone in our society. That’s why it’s so important that we bring enough people, especially young people, into STEM jobs. It’s why we’ve set up the STEM Exchange – because if we can bring together the worlds of education and STEM industries, everyone is better off.

Key Facts

Half a million new STEM workers will be needed in the next six years to replace current workers who retire (Social Market Foundation, 2017)

Working in Partnership With

EAL Working In Partnership With StemExperience
Year of Engineering Working In Partnership With StemExperience
Education and Training Foundation Working In Partnership With StemExperience
GetMyFirstJob Working In Partnership With StemExperience

What Employers Are Saying.

"2018's Year of Engineering will showcase how thousands of apprentices in the engineering sector, in STEM roles and others, are helping the sector to flourish. There's so much choice in the engineering industry and, whatever your job role, it's an interesting and varied sector in which to work."

Ryan Carey, Project Management Degree Apprentice, BAE Systems