SPAIN FOR STEM

A website that will build a network between Spanish public schools, students (ages 16-18) and STEM professionals to allow students to job shadow in different environments.

On the one hand, students will sign up on this website with a username and they will have to select the name of the public high school they attend from a database. 

On the other hand, I would establish partnerships with different businesses and clinics/hospitals so that their employees can sign up on the platform to take students under their wing for a short period of time.

This way, students can look into job shadowing opportunities they are interested in and apply through an application form. Later, they will go through a selection process and the few selected will attend the job shadowing program. The number of students and time span between one selection process and another would be determined by the partner company. Ideally, these companies would participate voluntarily. It could be a way of showing the satisfaction level of their employees and their concern to educate the future of the country. Plus, STEM professionals would be able to pass on their passion for their job by inspiring and mentoring younger generations. 

The goal is to offer job shadowing  in hospitals and labs  but also in the intersection of science and industry (engineering, pharma and tech companies).

As a college student myself, I feel like we are taught we have to get good grades from the moment we start our education but we are doing this blindly, without a goal. When I finished high school I had averagely high grades and no idea what to do in college or my academic future for that matter. I wished and looked for opportunities that would allow me to try out different job environments so my so-called “calling” would magically come to me. But the thing is you have to try different things, some of which you will like and some others you won’t. And even then you might still feel a little lost. Therefore, if I can help other students during this academic transition where most of us feel out of our depth and without direction, it would make me extremely proud.

My solution serves students ages 16-18 attending public high schools from the Community of Madrid. The goal is to aid teens in the process of figuring out their next academic step. Even if they don’t find out what they want to do, they would have their first work-related experience, which also teaches them about responsibility, expectations and working as a team.

As a student myself that has been through this experience recently, I understand the needs of this demographic on a personal level. I have met numerous people in the same situation and people are starting to speak up about it on social media. Seeing people sharing their story and putting themselves out there to guide the younger generations is what pushed me to submit my idea. 

Also, my experience as an exchange student in the US was a huge help. When I was 15 I spent a year studying in Nebraska, where I met people who already knew what they wanted to do at the tender age of 15 because they had had the opportunity to job shadow. Those same people now have a clear path to follow. In addition, as an “Education First” Ambassador, it came to my attention that this activity is pretty popular in countries like Ireland, where they have a Transition Year in which they get to try out different fields and see which one suits them better.

This idea is just a concept.

The foundation of my idea is to create a website to connect people at different educational levels so that they all benefit from each other’s knowledge and experiences. 

On the one hand, students will sign up on this website with a username and they will have to select the name of the public high school they attend from a database. 

On the other hand, I would establish partnerships with different businesses and healthcare centers/hospitals so that their employees can sign up on the platform to take students under their wing for a short period of time.

This way, students can look into job shadowing opportunities they are interested in and apply through an application form. Later, they will go through a selection process and the few selected will attend the job shadowing program. The number of students and time span between one selection process and another would be determined by the partner company. Ideally, these companies would participate voluntarily. It could be a way of showing the satisfaction level of their employees and their concern to educate the future of the country. Plus, STEM professionals would be able to pass on their passion for their job by inspiring and mentoring younger generations. 

If it were to develop into an actual project, it would serve approximately 25-30 thousand people.In the future, we would strive to extend this opportunity to people from other autonomous communities and maybe even outside of the STEM field, serving around 150-200 thousand students. 

For starters, I don’t  possess the necessary knowledge or programming skills to carry out this project. I’m also missing some guidance regarding matters like the application form and the format of the website. In addition, I would need to establish partnerships with different businesses, hospitals and clinics. And finally I would need help with the business plan and the monetary resources to keep the website running and to pay for the legal aspects of working with minors ( i.e. drawing up paperwork so minors can be in the hospital setting and interact with patients without actually being able to come into contact with them so they don’t hinder the professional’s job).