Page 52 - Annual Report 2014-2015

Recruitment to STEM
Despite a decline of the economy, speci cally in the oil and oil-related industries, there will be a great demand for engineers and technologists in Norway both now and in the future. Both NITO and Tekna will continue to work on improving the recruitment towards higher technology educa- tions, particularly by focusing on better STEM quali cations in primary and secondary school levels.
Tekna are focusing on recruitment to the STEM educa- tions to enable Norway to still have a drive on innovation throughout the country. Even though the oil price has scared a lot of young students away from petroleum studies, the focus has been on how to recruit into other STEM studies to be able to meet the need for engineers in the future. Tekna is supporting a lot of programs for young to be intro- duced to the STEM-subject early school years. Norway has had a shortage of quali ed STEM teachers, and Tekna has supported the process of getting unemployed petroleum engineers with their on-site experience into other business areas, e. g. teaching.
An important issue is to close the gender gap in engineering and technology. The percentage of female engineers in Norway is approximately 23, thus too low to ensure necessary recruitment and diversity in the sector. NITO strive to encourage women to seek a career in engineering by promoting female role models in the industry. In collab- oration with The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, the International Women's Day March 8 is and will be an arena to focus on women in STEM.
Trond Markussen, the president of NITO, has been the chairman and The Secretary General of Tekna, Ivar Horneland Kristensen, has the role of Secretary General of the Norwegian NC. The Norwegian NC has had one meeting in 2015, and The General Secretary of FEANI, Mr. Dirk Bochar visited Oslo and Longyearbyen for Nording (Nordic Engineers meeting) in August 2015.
The Norwegian NMC 2015
1. Eli Haugerud, Tekna (Chair)
2. Marianne Bevum, NITO (Secretary) 3. Maria Middelthon, NITO
4. Tove Rodahl, Tekna