STEM Education Strategic Plan

The aim of the STEM Education Strategic Plan, adopted by the College of Commissioners at the start of March 2025 as part of the Union of Skills package, is to address critical challenges in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Another goal is to expand and unlock opportunities for STEM activities and research throughout Europe as a way to ensure competitiveness and capitalise on technological leadership. 

About this initiative

Three key objectives underpin the plan: lead, level up, and lift barriers. 

1. 'Lead' entails anchoring STEM as a strategic pillar in European education, employment and skills policies. STEM targets for 2030 on EU-level should be supported by national or regional STEM strategies and set out in detail. Under 'lead', objectives include setting up an EU STEM Executive Panel, comprising of top political, academic and industry knowledge to advise on strategic issues. STEM intelligence can also be enhanced as part of this first objective through better measurement of graduate outcomes and better anticipation of emerging sector-specific needs.
2. 'Level up' means leveraging the EU STEM talent pipeline so it is not only stronger, but also more inclusive. This objective also wants to see a STEM competence framework being developed on EU level, as well as a common European degree of engineers. In the works is the upcoming launch of the 'STEM Tech Talent Induction' competition to attract more young people towards careers in STEM. The 'STEM Skills Foundries' is another pilot action under this objective of the Plan, which will operate in strategic sectors, connecting mentors to young student entrepreneurs.
3. 'Lift barriers' aims to reduce barriers to education and employment for all, increasing female participation in STEM and inspiring future innovations. Under this objective, the 'Girls go STEM' initiative will be launched, aiming to train 1 million young women by 2028. 'STEM Futures' will aim to identify and raise awareness of good practices and successful approaches in STEM education. This action also aims to showcase and exchange good practices in teaching and learning about STEM, especially when it comes to attracting girls and women to STEM apprenticeships. The 'STEM Specialists Fellowship' action will focus on international STEM experts and excellence throughout the EU Member States, expanding the available talent pool in Europe. 

Background and context

Tapping into the full potential of Europe means leveraging one of the strengths of the European continent: its human capital and the diversity that lies at the core of EU's strengths. And while  education and training systems have already taken steps to raise awareness and support actions to improve STEM skills, including through cooperation in the context of the European Education Area, stronger focus on STEM education and training is essential to sustain competitiveness, preparedness and technological leadership. STEM sectors require urgent attention and their dependence on skilled workers means that demand is increasing as technology pace speeds up, changing skills needs and facing a growing shortage of talent. 

In the latest PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), STEM skills in Europe are on a downward trajectory. The same trend is evidenced for the share of high achievers across the EU. In 2022, around 30% of students did not meet the basic maths proficiency threshold, while 24% of students were under the science threshold. While the number of students going into STEM has increased, this pace has not been able to match the growing job market needs for some STEM fields. In addition, Europe also faces a persisting gender gap amongst STEM students, and struggles to attract and retain international STEM talent. This is reflected in employment trends: according to Eurostat, in 2023, female scientists and engineers in the EU-27 accounted for 41% of total employment in science and engineering. Together, these trends weaken the EU’s ability to compete in the global race for technology and maintain its strategic autonomy in key industrial sectors.

Further reading

Dive into the full text of the STEM Education Strategic Plan or explore its shorter, more graphic, version here and discover an integrated approach to bridge the skills gap that bridges gaps in education, industry and policy.