With the STEM Alliance, working with Ministries of Education and teachers in Europe and around the world, the Airbus Foundation aspires to highlight the role industry can play in inspiring youth in STEM.
Why is your company joining the STEM Alliance?
With the STEM Alliance, working with Ministries of Education and teachers in Europe and around the world, the Airbus Foundation aspires to highlight the role industry can play in inspiring youth in STEM.
Why is STEM Education a priority for your company?
Education is one of the most powerful drivers of progress. At Airbus, we believe everyone is entitled to quality education, including our employees and young people worldwide. We partner with universities, schools, and NGOs to increase access to education and to support programs that inspire passion for aerospace, inspiring young people to prepare for STEM careers. Jobs related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) form the backbone of our company. They are also at the core of solving many of the societal challenges the world faces. Our international program of quality education initiatives is designed to inspire children and young adults to explore the benefits of a STEM-related career.
Youth development is one of the pillars upon which the Airbus Foundation is built, empowering young people for the challenges of tomorrow. Through our various programs, we invest in the future of the communities we support, sharing with young people our passion for science in general and aeronautics in particular. We are continuously developing initiatives that inspire children and young adults through aerospace.
Globalization, Digitalization, flattening of the socio-economic world – traditional hierarchies are being replaced. The blending of technical, economic, and societal cultures which results in, for example, individuals with access to easy-to-use software and tools now able to become manufacturers, and innovation increasing as diverse stakeholders and cultures come together, are driving forces behind this transformation.
As new technologies emerge and impact multiple sectors, companies/employers are increasingly seeking people who aren't just experts in their respective fields, but who also understand technology and data analytics. The lack of a candidate with this combination of abilities can threaten an organization's ability to adapt, grow and compete.
Companies looking for sophisticated skillsets are starting to look to foster skills and relationships with future employees among high school age students through contests and scholarships. And while you may not need to go to these extremes, If you're not already thinking five to ten years ahead for your talent needs, you need to.
At Airbus we like to say that "We make things fly". Innovation is constant and Airbus strives to be at the forefront of the digital transformation by being an industry-standard digital aerospace champion. That means much more than simply designing the safest helicopters, the largest plane or the most cutting-edge defence systems. Delivering our core business activity requires a high level of skill in complex systems integration. Everything we manufacture is essentially an interconnected and highly engineered design system. It therefore follows that the engineers who design, build and service Airbus products need a similarly broad understanding of all the technical skills required to engineer these systems.
To better identify - and then develop - the skills and competencies needed in the future, Airbus is working with universities to attract the necessary talent and other educational institutions to motivate young people to become interested in STEM careers. As an example of this, Airbus, through its Foundation, promotes programs related to the STEM.- Airbus Foundation Discovery Space, Airbus Foundation Little Engineer and Airbus Foundation Flying Challenge.
What does your company want to achieve with its support to the STEM Alliance?
Airbus is contributing to societal challenges such as transforming education This is not simply producing aircraft. It's bigger. Airbus is making people – especially children – dream about aviation, and turning these dreams into reality. To open new frontiers we have to open imagination of young minds first. Airbus is well-positioned to create inspirational material and tools for hard and soft skill, enlarge reach and accessibility of education and team up with partners within STEM Alliance to combine strengths (innovation, delivery, reach). such as critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, leadership, empathy, the skills that will be needed in the future. With the platform as Discovery Space, our goal has been to create a trusted place for teachers, parents, and a fun place for kids to practice those skills so they can drive and shape not only their future but ours as well. "If we do not change the way we teach, 30 years from now, we're going to be in trouble," Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, said.