Through the implementation of the STEM4Humanities project, we aimed to strengthen the relevance, quality, and impact of humanities education in higher education by integrating STEM-related skills and approaches. The main objectives were to: improve the employability of humanities students by providing them with STEM and transversal skills aligned with labour market needs; update the competences of humanities lecturers through innovative STEM-based teaching methodologies, modernising teaching practices; promote transdisciplinary learning by integrating STEM education into humanities curricula and fostering innovative teaching approaches; facilitate students’ transition into the labour market through work-based learning activities and virtual internship programmes in real business contexts; and support inclusion and gender equality, in particular by improving women’s access to skills that open up new professional opportunities. Overall, the project aimed to reduce the gap between humanities education and labour market demands by promoting innovation, interdisciplinarity, and long-term professional development for both students and academic staff.
We joined the STEM4Humanities project in order to address several structural challenges affecting students, academic staff, and higher education institutions in the humanities.First,graduates in humanities disciplines experience significantly lower employment rates,largely because traditional curricula do not provide the transversal and STEMrelated skills that are now required by the labour market.At the same time,around 75% of new jobs require STEM skills,and digital competences are becoming essential across all sectors.Second,humanities lecturers often lack updated and innovative teaching methods that integrate STEM elements.This creates a gap between what students learn and what employers demand.Both teachers and students have expressed the need for new learning approaches,practical tools and stronger links with the world of work. Third, the project responds to a clear need to promote gender equality: women are strongly represented in the humanities and underrepresented in STEM fields. Introducing STEM competences into humanities pathways supports better access for women to qualified professional opportunities. Moreover, the project aligns with the broader need to connect higher education with labour market.