Spain still needs engineers. Although their number has grown in recent years, today there is a shortage of 1.39 million specialists in STEM subjects to achieve the objectives of the European Union. Today, only 4.4% of employed people in Spain work in ICT professions, while the EU Digital Decade target is to reach 8.6% by 2030.

Is it possible to achieve this goal in the next six years? Several factors will have to be in place, but the first is inevitably an increase in the number of job seekers in professions related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

There seems to be plenty of demand. According to OECD data, in Spain, there are more than three job offers for every available professionalThis is evidence of a growing gap between the supply and demand of skills. As one of the sectors with the greatest job stability and above-average salaries, why is it so hard to find STEM professionals?

 

The report “Challenges and evolution of STEM vocations in Spain” has been commissioned to delve into the causes. “Challenges and evolution of STEM vocations in Spain”.The results of the survey, conducted by DigitalES and Edelvives through a survey of more than 2,000 students, teachers and school administrators. Its results are conclusive: Spain needs to increase its STEM talent in order to sustain competitiveness and face the digital transformation, but continues to lose vocations throughout the educational system.

However, there is a key difference from the research initiated in 2018 and 2019 with separate studies on STEM vocations and on Women in the Digital Economy. Today, it is not, as then, academic difficulty that induces many students to discard these disciplines, but rather the lack of information about the professional opportunities that these studies offer.

Thus, 56% of those surveyed reject these subjects due to indecision or lack of knowledge. Many schoolchildren do not really know what an engineer, a mathematician or a physicist does for a living. Although the percentage of centers that carry out orientation activities has increased, a significant gap persists: the action most highly valued by students – visits to companies (33%) – is not among the initiatives usually carried out in the classroom, which highlights the need to strengthen the direct connection between education and professional reality.

There are more factors behind the stagnation in enrollment. Mathematics is still not the students’ favorite subject. Seventy-two percent of secondary school students surveyed acknowledge difficulties in understanding mathematics.

Only 2.28% of teachers complete majors in STEM disciplines

Nor does it seem to be the teachers’ strong point. Spain suffers from a deficit of teachers specialized in STEM subjects, especially mathematics. Only 10-12% of university degree credits in education are dedicated to mathematics and ICT. And an even more relevant fact: only 2.28% of education graduates complete studies in STEM disciplines.

The study also reveals another bleak reality. Despite progress, the gender gap in the science and technology sector persists. Some 27.3% of STEM graduates are women. The presence of women in vocational training and in the choice of scientific subjects is increasing, although they continue to be concentrated outside the most in-demand STEM families.

STEM employment in Spain already exceeds one million workers, but female participation remains at 32.1%. Currently, only 3.2% of all employed women work in STEM professions.

Keys to boost STEM vocations

So what can be done to reverse the negative aspects of this situation? The DigitalES report gathers some recommendations to address this lack of vocations, eliminate the gender gap and more efficiently align educational skills and the labor market.

This is an exercise that can only be carried out through the coordination of all the agents involved and that can be greatly boosted by these five measures:

 

1. 1. National Plan for Teacher Updating in Digital and STEM Competences

Implement a comprehensive and mandatory continuing education program for teachers, especially in Technology and Mathematics, with professional and economic incentives. It should include updated pedagogical methodologies, effective use of AI in the classroom, and content aligned with current technological trends. This will address the problem detected by the 58% of the student body on outdated teachers and the 700+ unfilled vacancies.

2. STEM without Gender” Program from Kindergarten onwards

Launch a national initiative to combat the gender gap from an early age (before 4th grade of primary school) through: teacher training on unconscious gender biases, inclusive teaching materials, mentoring with female STEM professionals, and campaigns that make referents visible. Include specific psycho-pedagogical support to combat math anxiety that disproportionately affects girls at age 15.

3. National Network of Micro-Tutorials for Dual Vocational Training

Create a simplified system that allows micro and SMEs to participate in FP Dual without assuming the full burden of a dual tutor. Proposals: shared tutoring among several companies, significant tax incentives, simplified digital management platforms, and support from external coordinating tutors. Objective: to increase from the current 0.3% to 5% of participating companies in three years, prioritizing strategic sectors.

4. Pact for Curricular Stability (2025-2035)

Establish a cross-cutting political commitment to maintain a stable curriculum for at least a decade, with minor revisions every three years based on evidence. It should include: balance between technical competencies and transversal skills, technology subjects as compulsory, and methodologies that integrate AI as a tool for personalizing learning. This will respond to the main concern expressed by school principals.

5. Skills and Employability Observatory for Young People

Create an independent body to monitor in real time the mismatch between educational training and labor market demands, coordinating actions between universities, vocational training, companies and administrations. Its functions: to identify emerging skills, detect overqualification, facilitate the education-employment transition, and reduce the alarming 9.1% of young people who are unemployed after completing their studies. It must generate binding annual reports to adapt training programs.

There is reason for hope. The report also reveals that Spain has surpassed the European average in ICT graduates. While in the EU it is 4.7%, in our country it is 5.7%. This is an indication that steps are being taken in the right direction. The objective now is to correct the gaps in the system and promote STEM vocations so as not to be left behind in the knowledge economy.

As the Secretary of State for Education, Abelardo de la Rosa Díaz, said during the presentation of the report, “there is a wave of technological training on which we have a strategic obligation to ride”.