Broadened recruitment for increased quality
Scania
Recruitment and attracting new groups of students are constantly relevant issues, and diversity is becoming increasingly important for KTH as well as for the industry.
Broadened recruitment and broadened participation are crucial for future skills supply and for the industry's transformation. Through the strategic partnership between Scania and KTH, and Scania's collaboration with Vetenskapens Hus (the House of Science), KTH and Scania jointly engage in the matter.
Inclusion and diversity are crucial
Ensuring long-term quality is one of KTH's most important concerns, according to Leif Kari, Vice President for Education at KTH and board member of Vetenskapens Hus.
- Broader recruitment and increased participation are not only a matter of fairness or democracy but primarily a matter of quality. The more diverse perspectives we have, the better KTH reflects its societal relevance.
Working to recruit outstanding individuals regardless of their backgrounds is a significant part of the issue. To attract more girls, children, and youth from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas to higher education, it is essential to pique their interest in natural sciences and technology from an early age.
- Broadened recruitment aligns with our values and our efforts to increase diversity and inclusion. We want to enhance our diversity because it is critical for our business! By leveraging differences in experiences, competencies, and perspectives, we ensure that our analyses, methods, and results simply become better. So not working towards broadened recruitment is simply not an option, says Jeanna Tällberg, HR Director at Scania.
Ensuring future skills supply
Frida Müller is the Head of Employer Branding Sweden at Scania and serves on the board of Vetenskapens Hus.
- Close collaboration with universities and in the education is strategically important for our future skills supply. In the long run, it contributes to ensuring access to top talents, critical expertise, and promotes innovation and research, says Frida.
She emphasizes the importance of companies contributing to development and in the education, for example through case studies, guest lectures, and thesis projects.
- Our collaboration with KTH is especially important for us since a significant proportion of our engineers hold degrees from KTH.
Reaching broader audiences
Marcus Angelin, the Director of the House of Science, constantly works to reach a broader audience. Their main activities involve visits from school classes on topics including science, technology, and mathematics. The House of Science also offers weekend courses and summer camps as well as organizes/participates in various events.
As part of reaching a broader audience, the House of Science offered courses in various subjects for four weeks during the summer of 2023 in collaboration with the non-profit association Hello World. These courses is something the House of Science hope they can continue to offer young people.
- A key is to get young people to see themselves taking place in a different context. To get individuals to identify with and shape ambitions. Close cooperation between schools and the business world gives young people an opportunity to look beyond their textbooks and see what comes next. This benefits both applications to higher education and the industry, says Marcus.
Text: Annelie Englund