Partnership with Mattecentrum

A question of democracy and equality

The ongoing shortage of engineers is a challenge which is critical to solve. It's not only a question of increasing the number of engineers, it's also a question of democracy and equality. 

We know that people in socially deprived areas are less likely to apply to tech programmes, instead, it's the people in wealthy areas that study to become engineers. We also know that not enough girls go on to study engineering, causing a significant lack of diversity within current and upcoming engineers. In short, this results in an industry with not enough perspectives and experiences to identify the need of and create solutions for what is necessary for our society as a whole.

Engineers are playing a crucial part in solving future challenges, and they must represent all groups of society to do that in the best possible way.

Our partnership

Combitech has a partnership with the Swedish non-profit organization Mattecentrum who works to stimulate student's interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The partnership enables us to empower children in their math studies, and meet the societal demand for tech talents.

The shortage of engineers is a societal challenge that we must face together. Taking joint action to address the current and future lack of engineers is crucial for a thriving resilient society. Engineers play a vital role in finding innovative solutions to common challenges by designing and implementing sustainable technologies, processes, and infrastructure. By fostering engineering talent, we can unlock technological opportunities, fuel innovation, create new job opportunities, bridge societal gaps, and empower individuals to shape a sustainable future for all – and it starts with the kids.

Jessica Öberg, CEO, Combitech

• There is a global shortage of tech talents. Sweden alone will lack 50.000 engineers by 2030 (SCB)
• Interest for Tech and Maths needs to be encouraged early
• Only 8.6% of students chose the national tech program at high school*
• Swedish children in year 4 and 8 show lower maths performance than the average for EU and OECD, according to TIMSS 2019
• According to Sveriges Ingenjörer, the lowest average grade of all subjects in year 6 and 9 in Sweden was in mathematics
• In 2020/21, only 12% of girls and 11% of boys in year 9 achieved grade A in mathematics.
• Skolverket estimated the need to examine 3,000 more maths teachers for year 7-9 and 1,700 more for high school during 2019-2023.
• Looking forward to 2030, projections indicate that the number of employed persons with ICT education in Norway must increase by more than 40,000
• It is estimated by Economics Norway that the lost value creation of the labour shortage in a normal year is about 2 billion Norwegian kroner

*  IVA rapport: ”Naturvetenskaps- och teknikprogrammet – för vem och var?”