On March 26, 12 high school students were selected to the Swedish Young Research National Team, in the finale of the Swedish Championships in Research held in Södertälje, south of Stockholm. The championship is Sweden’s largest competition for high school projects in science, technology, and mathematics – collectively referred to as STEM subjects – with around 750 applications to participate this year. The national science team will go on to represent Sweden in international competitions and championships.

This is crucial in this age of digitalization, understanding information on the internet, and how to handle the advanced environment that we live in.

The Swedish championship is arranged by the non-profit youth association Young Scientists (Unga Forskare) which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year. Young Scientists is the umbrella organization for STEM-related youth associations across the country, and today represents 65 member associations with more than 10,000 members in the ages 6-23. 

A STEM strategy

Attracting more young people to study STEM subjects is a recurring topic in educational contexts, in Sweden and abroad. But why this focus on STEM studies?

Maja Neiman, Secretary General, Young Scientists

“The Swedish government has put forth a STEM strategy that clearly defines the societal benefits of having more individuals in STEM professions, as well as people who can competently navigate the STEM fields without necessarily working in them. This is crucial in this age of digitalization, understanding information on the internet, and how to handle the advanced environment that we live in – essentially how to be a functioning citizen in a highly technological democracy,” says Dr. Maja Neiman, Secretary General of Young Scientists.

The previous study, conducted in 2022 and published in 2023, showed that Nordic school students’ results in maths, reading, and science were lagging behind previous years.

That a STEM strategy is necessary can be seen in the results over the years from the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) studies, organized by the OECD every three years. The previous study, conducted in 2022 and published in 2023, showed that Nordic school students’ results in maths, reading, and science were lagging behind previous years. The study had showed a positive trend in the region between 2012-2018, but then measured falling scores in the following years. After the last results were published, the Nordic Council called for a specialist education committee to advise education ministers in the Nordics on measures to turn the trend around. The results from the PISA study conducted in 2025 is expected in September this year. 

More difficult and high-risk

While the reasons for the decline in students’ STEM competence are manyfold, these programs are considered high-risk, to the detriment of students’ willingness to bet big on science. Neiman explains that already as children enter high school, they often select study tracks that are considered more safe: even high-performing students have better chances of exiting high school with top final grades in social sciences or economy, than in natural sciences.

“Statistically there are fewer and fewer people who choose STEM subjects. Studies show that it’s not just a matter of young people’s hesitation to enter natural science studies in high school, but that they are actively dissuaded by parents, teachers, and guidance counselors to pursue scientific studies, as these are considered more difficult and high-risk” Neiman says.

We see clearly that very young children are curious and interested in everything concerning science and technology, but in school these subjects seem to lose their appeal.

“It requires a lot of drive and confidence from the children themselves to dare to go for it,” Neiman muses, and continues: “This is where organisations like ours come in, to encourage their interests in an environment that’s free from grades and assessments. We see clearly that very young children are curious and interested in everything concerning science and technology, but in school these subjects seem to lose their appeal.” 

The school environment isn’t optimized for the scientific process of trying, failing, figuring out why, and trying again.

“You have to be allowed to make mistakes,” Neiman points out. “We work a lot on that, in environments outside of school. For example through competitions where winning isn’t the goal as much as taking part, receiving feedback, and trying again.”

“Children have to be allowed to be children,” she concludes. “We have to talk about science and technology in an interesting way that makes them feel invited to be a part of this environment.”

Industry branding – or just inspiration

One of the major hurdles that face youth STEM initiatives is funding, according to Neiman. The public sector tends to think that the industry should fund youth science activities, as the science-interested children of today will populate the innovative companies of tomorrow – while the industry generally thinks this is a matter for the government to solve.

Even on a local level, Swedish STEM associations struggle to secure funding from municipality budgets. With a long and proud tradition of life-long learning, Sweden’s municipalities have clear paths for funding sports associations and cultural activities. Extracurricular scientific associations aimed at children, however, end up competing over the educational budget with the public school system.

A company can’t expect an immediate return of investment from getting involved, but they’re contributing to the greater good and the long-term survival of the industry.

The solution may lie in more involvement from the industry, according to Neiman. She mentions AstraZeneca as a major actor that invests in initiatives that benefit Swedish life science. The company is also Young Scientists’ biggest donor.  

“We’d like to see industry alliances that can collect capital and launch larger initiatives that are more stable over time,” she says. 

“From the perspective of a single company this is a type of sponsorship, rather than employer branding. Perhaps we can call it industry branding – or just inspiration. A company can’t expect an immediate return of investment from getting involved, but they’re contributing to the greater good and the long-term survival of the industry,” Neiman reasons.