Her Tech Future – technology and the future

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting a hundred girls from secondary schools in southern Sweden who had come to visit LTH to learn more about what it is like to study and to be a student. Her Tech Future is organised every year by LTH students, who plan, arrange and mentor the visiting girls. The Her Tech Future project team does everything possible to give the girls an idea of how it is to study and live as a student in Lund, and as the Dean of LTH I am proud of the commitment our students show to secondary school students.

I am also happy when I get to meet the leaders of the student networks for women at LTH: Athena, which promotes women's place in technological contexts, D-Chip and Elektra, which unite girls and non-binary people into a community in our programmes in computer and electrical engineering, where the gender balance is still skewed. And there is also Freja, which aims to support women and non-binary people who are studying or have studied in the F-section at LTH, and Hera, which brings together girls and non-binary people in the programmes in mechanical engineering, technical design and industrial economics.

All of these associations contribute to a sense of community among those studying at LTH. At the same time, several of them are committed to attracting more girls and non-binary people to engineering education. And this is both important and necessary ...

Sweden is very much an engineering country, with a large number of engineering-driven companies. Many of these companies have emerged from innovations in technology and engineering. By all accounts, technical education will continue to be a good breeding ground for future innovations, technology companies and the growth that follows from them.

Through technology companies, Sweden has established a leading position as a country of innovation and production – with strong exports. Moreover, in these times we see industry re-establishing or strengthening its production in Sweden. So now, more than ever, those with a technical education are needed, and the competition to employ young graduates is likely to intensify. Already today, we cannot supply industry with sufficient engineers.

Educating to become an engineer is something that "everyone" can do and provides a broad base with very many exciting opportunities to specialise in fields that often contribute to meeting sustainable development goals. Many engineering fields require lots of different skills and multiple perspectives, so it is important that both boys and girls see the opportunities in these exciting future professions.

So, while the need for technical skills is growing in line with the re-establishment of industry in Sweden, and with industry's transformation in areas such as sustainable development and digitalisation, I want to claim that it is a necessity that all young people, regardless of background and gender, should see the opportunities in this future profession.

I therefore sincerely hope that in a few years' time I will see many of the people I met at this year's Her Tech Future, here at LTH.

Annika Olsson

Dean of LTH