Debate: The electronics industry is losing valuable talent

For a long time, Sweden has held a leading position in the global innovation race, a role that is being challenged, among other things, due to Sweden's current engineering shortage. More than eight out of ten Swedish technology companies in electronics state that they have difficulty finding employees with the right skills.

At the same time, the school system continues to fail to recruit women to education in electronics. Already at the high school level, boys are significantly overrepresented in technology-oriented programs. The skewed distribution then continues up into higher education. This means that Sweden's electronics industry is missing out on valuable talent. This in turn affects many other industries in our elongated country.

The future will be built with smart electronics as a foundation. Unless our decision-makers seriously ensure that every student gets the chance to be part of that journey, other countries will overtake us.

At the Smarter Electronics Systems innovation program, we know that the framing of technology and electronics is crucial to sparking and capturing girls' interest. Together with NTA School Development, we have therefore developed an educational concept for high school that places electronics in concrete and everyday contexts.

One example is the theme ”The Smarter City,” where students get to program traffic lights, streetlights, and road barriers. When technology and electronics are linked to community planning and put into context, girls generally become more engaged.

Hard statistics show the same thing. The technology companies, together with the Youth Barometer, have examined What stands in the way of girls' desire for technology? The results show that boys interested in technology are more fascinated by technology itself, while girls interested in technology are more likely to focus on how technology can be used to improve the world.

The same study also shows that unrealistic norms around technology and mathematics are a major culprit in the drama. The concept of technology seems to have a masculine connotation that few girls can identify with. In addition, girls tend to underestimate their own ability in mathematics to a greater extent.

Schools have a central responsibility to shape a society where all students can reach their full potential and maximize their choices. If stereotypical gender norms stand in the way of learning, the education system must be a powerful counterweight.

The fact that technical education programs do not attract enough girls is not a new phenomenon and many politicians have said they want to do something about the problem. Representatives of parties from left to right are making new promises about increasing the pace of gender equality work. But more fine words are not needed – we are demanding action and concrete measures already in primary school.

The question is not whether electronics will continue to be central. The question is whether Sweden will maintain its role as an innovative player in the global market for solutions for sustainable development.

The future will be built with smart electronics as a foundation. If our decision-makers do not seriously ensure that every student gets the chance to be part of that journey, other countries will overtake us. Sweden needs Swedish electronics. The industry needs new young talents. This requires immediate and comprehensive investments in schools. Without changes, we will lose large revenues to Swedish welfare. We simply cannot afford not to.

Anna Wibom, Program Manager, Smarter Electronic Systems
Carl-Mikael Zetterling, professor, Royal Institute of Technology
Christina Hugosson, consultant, Effic
Elizabeth Osterlund, CEO of Swedish Electronics
Fredrik Tillman, Head of Research Microelectronics, Ericsson
Jan Knutsson, global manager research and development, Epiroc
Maria Linner, head of business development senior care Nordics, Assa Abloy
Maria Mansson, Deputy Program Manager, Smarter Electronic Systems
Michael Joki, CEO of EEPAB
Olle Hulteberg, Chairman of the Board, Inission and Smarter Electronic Systems
Patrick Sandgren, business policy expert, Swedish Technology Companies
Sofia Persson Björk, manager electronics design, AFRY, chairman of the board of Svensk Elektronik

Debate