Importance of stem skills for successful career and Erasmus+ VET as bridge to practical experience
The concept of ‘STEM’ (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has influenced many education and workforce strategies and policies with the intention of improving innovation, productivity and international competitiveness. Generally, the focus has been on how the school and university sectors can help equip the workforce with the STEM – related skills and knowledge considered necessary for the changing economy.
Many studies show that more jobs in the manufacturing industry are going to be created in the near future. Most of the employers in the industry are looking for individuals with skills in electronics, mechanical, and mechatronics engineering technology, and computer systems.
Many studies also show that, as technology continues to develop, we need more developers who can code, engineers who can design and innovative thinkers who can analyse what we need, before we even realise we need it.
As the Innovation, Digitalization and Robotics are increasingly becoming more and more important, so is the Mechatronics profession.
As a great example in this topic, ShipCon would like to share a very motivational story about Erasmus+ VET students from Serbia which our organisation hosted during last April 2021 in Limassol, Cyprus. 
It was their first time participating in Erasmus+ Project and they came to Cyprus for vocational traineeship in Robotics and Mechatronics. It has been a very valuable experience for students and their teachers since they had an opportunity to do and try the things in their study field that they don’t have in their school in Serbia.
One of the most exciting part of the mobility for all the students was designing and building a robot, then programming it and in the end testing and competing with other group members. Apart from that, students had an opportunity to gain new insights while having training with pneumatic systems in Technical school and observing and practicing innovative and creator skills in robotics-oriented companies in Limassol.
In the end of the traineeship students were even more committed that robotics and mechatronics is becoming more important and it will be a future profession!
