What is STEM? The need for unpacking its definitions and applications

The generality of the umbrella term 'STEM' as a synonym for a diverse group of skills and academic fields poses various problems in terms of workforce planning and targeted interventions.

This summary brings together findings from NCVER research investigating educational and occupational concepts and their associated definitions raised in the literature review. As there is no universally shared definitions of STEM skills there cannot be comparable 'STEM' statistics on any number of people, subjects, courses or occupations in the science and technology domain; these should be reported per defined field or grouping e.g. natural sciences, engineering, finance and health.

For further information, two support documents are available below:

• Defining ‘STEM’ skills: review and synthesis of the literature
• Identifying STEM occupations: national and international approaches.