Samsung Electronics Australia, with the help of Questacon, Leo Burnett and a few Aussie celebs, has launched an educational resource designed to show students how skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) are becoming increasingly relevant across all industries and future career paths.
‘Creators Wanted’ has been launched across Australia through the release of video content conceptualised and developed by Leo Burnett, which is designed to capture the attention of students and drive uptake of STEM subjects at schools and universities.
The videos feature Aussie rugby sevens player and Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Caslick testing out a self-retrieving ball, Showpo founder Jane Lu revealing a colour-changing dress and former MasterChef contestant Reynold Poernomo cooking up an edible 3D-printed croquembouche.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmGvvT7vs1I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_6ydlcd6p0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRgtvfECMf0
The ‘Creators Wanted’ initiative forms part of Samsung’s corporate social responsibility portfolio, which primarily focuses on bridging socio-economic, cultural and academic divides between students and STEM education.
“Samsung and Questacon are working together to help address the declining level of STEM skills across Australia,” Tess Ariotti, Samsung’s corporate social responsibility manager, said.
“We know that 44 per cent of all jobs in Australia are likely to be automated in the next 20 years, yet Australian students remain passive towards STEM subjects. One of the reasons for this is that there is no clear indication of the variety of work opportunities STEM skills can lead to.
“Therefore, given that 75 per cent of Australia’s fast growing occupations require STEM skills, we believe helping to educate students about the potential of these skills through campaigns such as ‘Creators Wanted’ is crucial to building a workforce for the future.”
As part of the initiative, a website has also been launched to help support students in the selection of high-school subjects and uni courses, as well as provide insights into the job possibilities associated with STEM.
Questacon director Graham Durant said the National Science and Technology Centre is constantly looking at new ways of engaging students in STEM.
“So far, the combination of the ‘Creators Wanted’ videos and website has proved extremely successful in capturing the attention of students across Australia,” he said.
“To date, the videos have received over 14 million views.”
Grant McAloon, co-executive creative director at Leo Burnett Sydney, said the agency is very proud to be working in partnership with Samsung and Questacon on ‘Creators Wanted’.
“It is more than work designed to educate and empower the next generation of innovators,” he said. “It helps every student rethink what STEM can mean in their education.”
