1. Understand the relevance of STEM studies for students and society; 
2. Understand the importance of STEM career in the job market; 
3. Understand the importance of integrating STEM career guidance in lessons, curriculum and what are the benefits for their students.

1. Awareness (students are aware and know the variety of STEM careers available),
2. Relevance (they see the connection between the subject they are studying and day to day life),
3. Engagement (students show direct interest and motivation to interact with the subject matter),
4. Self-efficacy (students are comfortable with using tools of science). 

1. Incorporate both formal and informal approaches: constantly bring career awareness in your activities and do not keep it as a separate unit.
2. Help students see scientists as real people: students may have difficulty imagining themselves as scientists because they cannot see that scientists have a normal life, just like them. They have hobbies, families and various interests. 
3. Connect the dots: it is not enough to just expose students to career information, the teacher also has to directly connect career information with whatever the student is learning at that moment. This can refer to making clear connections to the real-life use of subjects, to giving examples of how it connects to jobs of scientists. The student will not be always capable of making these connections themselves, and you will have to do that for him. 
4. Embed reflection: To make sure that information sticks with students, and embeds reflection to drive a deeper understanding. Otherwise, a lot of the information can be lost over time if reflection is not used to “glue” it. 

1. Understand which are the currently relevant STEM industries and what is the spectrum of jobs available in each of them; 
2. Explore and learn about different career pathways available to reach those careers

• Soft skills such as resilience, self-control and time management can be incorporated through pedagogical approaches like project-based learning and inquiry based science education (which will be further explained in the coming sections). 
• In general, group work activities are always an opportunity to integrate soft skills in the classroom. Problem solving tasks can be a chance for pupils to engage in social skills. The freedom of working in groups will help students to develop time-management and self-control abilities, emphasizing the notion of self-regulation and time-on-task. Last, working in small groups can also encourage quiet students to express their thoughts in a more comfortable manner. (Concordia University, 2016)
• Incorporating student self-assessment into lessons is another way to promote soft skills. While students can measure their knowledge attainment through tests, they do not always take time to reflect on their own work, on what is challenging them and in what areas are they succeeding. Having students review their own work will also help them develop resilience and add a goal setting approach to their educational experiences.

• Kahoot is a free game-based learning platform that helps educators create a collection of questions on specific topics while creating a game-like learning environment. Through this platform, you can create quizzes, discussion and surveys about any topic of your choice.
• Classflow is cloud-based platform that allows teachers to create interactive lessons in a single place, while (at the same time) pulling in resources from anywhere.
• PhET simulations are free, interactive, research-based science and mathematics simulations. These are written in Java, Flash or HTML5, and can be run online or downloaded from any computer. PhET is designed to encourage scientific inquiry and to provide interactivity among students.

1. Incorporate both formal and informal approaches: constantly bring career awareness in your activities and do not keep it as a separate unit.
2. Help students see scientists as real people: students may have difficulty imagining themselves as scientists because they cannot see that scientists have a normal life, just like them. They have hobbies, families and various interests. 
3. Connect the dots: it is not enough to just expose students to career information, the teacher also has to directly connect career information with whatever the student is learning at that moment. This can refer to making clear connections to the real-life use of subjects, to giving examples of how it connects to jobs of scientists. The student will not be always capable of making these connections themselves, and you will have to do that for him. 
4. Embed reflection: To make sure that information sticks with students, embed reflection to drive a deeper understanding. Otherwise, a lot of the information can be lost over time if reflection is not used to “glue” it.  

1. Utilize career materials in science texts/journals/articles: consult these sources and extract/incorporate articles or supplemental readings in your lessons.​​​​​​
2. Integrate experiential activities in the classroom: role-playing or designing research posters.
3. Incorporate authentic research: give students the opportunity to participate in real research projects.​​​​​​​
4. Invite guest speakers: ask speakers from a variety of careers to talk to your students, to present their educational and career pathway. Invite also parents engaged in STEM fields to speak.​​​​​​​#
5. Research science careers / map out career paths: assign homework where students have to research various careers, support students in building resumes or to analyze their skills.​​​​​​​
6. Support inclusion of science careers in school career fairs.​​​​​​​
7. Weave career information informally into lessons: try to frame or open your lessons with career information, or as you work throughout a particular chapter or unit, make sure you point out career aspects where relevant.​​​​​​​
8. Share personal experiences: share your own experience of working in STEM fields, participate in professional development opportunities and share also your own educational and career pathway.​​​​​​​
9. Expose students to worksites and outside opportunities: take students on visits to various STEM centers (companies, research centers, etc.), prepare them before, seek funding and see how you can bridge the education-industry gap for your students.​​​​​​​
10. Be a mentor/advocate.

1. Understand the concept of the STEM gender gap;
2. Learn to analyse data regarding the situation of girls and women in STEM careers;
3. Learn strategies to further address gender equality in the classroom, and how to encourage girls into STEM careers;
4. Learn about female scientist (of the present and of the past) and of current initiatives promoting girls in STEM.

In the padlet, pick one of the tips mentioned in the info sheet “Your guide to ensure gender equality in the (STEM) classroom”. Apply it with your students and (afterwards) tell us your experience.

• Stemettes

• Hypathia  

• Mind the Gap

1. Tackle gender-stereotypes with parents. Make sure they encourage girls and boys equally and, when possible, challenge any possible stereotypes they may be harbouring. 
2. Help parents see their children’s experiments and curiosity as a natural, scientist-attitude. Encourage them to be tolerant and welcoming in that curiosity, and to let their children explore, regardless of the mess they may be making at home: noise, breaking, pulling apart things. 
3. Facilitate the involvement of parents in STEM activities with their children. Inform them of activities they can do together with their children, events where they can participate together and activities they can put in practice at home to foster their children’s interests in STEM. 
4. Financial constraints in a household can be an impediment for parents to expose their children to science opportunities – it a lot of cases, it will be up to you as a teacher to make extra steps to inform students and give them extra guidance for these opportunities.  
5. Finally, remember to practice what you preach. If parents do not see you putting into practice what you tell them to do, they will not be convinced! 

1. Learn about types of school-to-work programs available and where to find them; 
2. Learn how to guide their students towards these programs;

• join local talks or workshops: networking and learning what others are doing and how you can tap into their expertise is a great strategy;
• contact local museums, government agencies, local expertise institutions (which usually have an Education Department). 

• A first type of opportunity is the one provided by Amgen Scholars, a program where “Undergraduate participants benefit from undertaking a research project under top faculty, being part of a cohort-based experience of seminars and networking events, and taking part in a symposium in their respective region (U.S., Europe or Japan) where they meet their peers, learn about biotechnology, and hear from leading scientists.” In this module we will feature a webinar with two alumni of this program so check out section 7.5 to connect! 
• Another way in which companies cover this skills gap is from Microsoft’s Careers where they have an entire section dedicated to students and graduates. This section features live events or webinars on how to prepare for a job at Microsoft, international opportunities like apprenticeships, and even high-school summer bootcamps! 

1. Check out which are some of the big industry or corporate players in your town/city/country. 
2. Usually, they should have a department/area of their organization allocated towards Corporate Social Responsibility (for example, Amgen has the Amgen Foundation, which offers the Amgem Scholars program) or a section on Careers, which almost always provides assistance to students/graduates who might be interested in a job with that company (like Microsoft for example). This information should normally be available on the company’s website.
3. See what types of activities they provide: these can be live ones, like trainings or workshops at their headquarters or live webinars. If they offer extracurricular study programs (like an Academy) see what are their aims, objectives, conditions and timeline. 
4. Facilitate the connection with your students. Either in one on one discussions, in the classroom, or redirecting your students to that website.

• Become aware of the main benefits of organizing a STEM careers events in schools;
• Learn tips and steps to organize their own STEM careers event;
• Explore case studies of various STEM careers events

• Big Bang Fair in the UK; 
• I giovani e le scienze (Youth and Science) in Italy;
• Unge Forskere (Young Scientists) in Denmark;
• Jugend forscht (Youth research) in Germany. 

• to explore a career field by experiencing life at a real workplace;
• to learn how to apply academic subject knowledge through discussions with a professional;
• to assess one’s aptitude for a particular position/role/career;
• to observe the day-to-day activities of a professional/researcher;
• to discuss specific STEM related research and careers pathways;
• to create career connections and establish valid networking opportunities. 

• Non-involvement: In some circumstances, job shadowing limits the involvement of the trainee/student to observation and does not allow the student to contribute to the work efforts. Moreover, job shadowing does not always provide students/trainees with an understanding of the responsibility or specific skills needed in the workplace. 
• Distortions: The success of job shadowing will depend on the professional selected “to be shadowed”. The time selected for shadowing can also create distortions, as it can provide inadequate understanding of the level of difficulty and/or of the necessary engagement. 
• Timing: Job shadowing will usually take place during a limited period. This brief exposure can cause the student shadowing to miss out key work challenges that may not occur during the time of the placement.  
• Supervision: To ensure an effective experience, students will need to be supervised and mentored, which can be very time consuming for the professionals.
• Disruption: Job shadowing can disrupt the smooth functioning of working environments, in different ways. The professional, conscious of being observed, might behave differently than normal, which can affect the quality of output. Another related inherent risk, from an organisational point of view, is the student getting to know confidential information of a particular organization. 
• Other challenges might relate to the lack of space or of other infrastructure to accommodate interns or the work schedule incompatibilities that may not match students’ availabilities. 

• A convenient and unique opportunity to meet key professionals and employers from different STEM fields, in one same location;
• A networking occasion for students to meet not only with professionals and employers abut also with researchers and with more advanced students; 
• A chance to gain first-hand information about local (and potentially foreign) employers;
• The prospect of collecting promotional information (brochures, business cards) related to different companies;

• Mass appeal: Unless tailored to a specific field, career fairs might feature professionals from a wide range of business or fields, making it difficult for attendees to adapt the visit to their needs. 
• Limited quality time: A careers fair atmosphere is usually loud and crowded, leaving little quality time or space for effective interaction between students and professionals. This context can prove challenging for students to communicate, ask questions and network.
• Organisational costs: STEM career fairs require a high budget, extensive time and personnel to get organised.

• Technological glitches: While technology provides students with a variety of new ways of connecting, technical glitches can create a disadvantage for networking and effective communication.
• Digital divide: Not all students might have direct access to a digital devise. Therefore, virtual job fairs might not ensure equal access to all pupils. 
• Visual elements: The interaction between students and professionals might appear to be limited or superficial, since the face-to-face contact is non-existent. 
• Inertia about new technologies: Students and/or professionals may be apprehensive about learning to use a new digital tool. 

• Students can discuss specific queries with professionals during or after the talk, workshop or seminar.
• Direct face-to-face contact facilitates smoother and improved communication.
• Parents or student guardians can join the discussion to support their children in their career choice.

• Students might find difficulty to attend career talks if these clash with their school/study scheduling.
• Professionals might lack the skills to share their work in a specific field in an appealing, engaging manner. This can result in students being disinterested or detached.
• It might be difficult to convince professionals from a wide range of fields to carry on STEM career talks. Therefore, students might only be exposed to a limited range of options.