According to my understanding, the required skill set for 21st- century STEM university students are problem analysis, practical application of theoretical ideas, workable design, resource management and efficiency.
According to a paper by UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning, the competencies required for STEM students in the 21st century include scientific literacy, mathematical literacy, digital literacy, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, problem-solving, innovation, entrepreneurship, global citizenship, and sustainability literacy.
Look, this is a tricky one. But here is my take. But first, a reflection on what the sage Albert Einstein said might prove helpful: 'the moment you change, your mind, the problem gets solved'.
Now to STEM subjects - math, chemistry, quantum physics, cosmology, biology, and physics and all engineerings are strictly limited to the senses and to the conscious realm of man's being - there are 3 levels of consciousness - conscious, sub-conscious and unconscious. And so for being limited to the physical and conscious realms, the noble scientists, science and STEM subjects can NEVER observe, measure, and calculate and theorize beyond the conscious (knowable/measurable/observable) realm of STEM subjects. For instance, mathematical machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI) has no emotions, no empathy and therefore no ethics. By the way, the English word artificial means fake/false; so artificial intelligence is effectively false/fake intelligence (FI). Curious question: Why aren't political leaders seeking and promoting supernatural intelligence (SI) instead? See why the global policy regime might be playing deaf to the ethical woes of AI? Moreover, simple logic has it that no coin has only one side. There is therefore absolutely no way the popular AI can be 100% positive! Moreover, aside from ICT and related digital literacies, all 21st century/life/employability/new basic/general/soft skills (empathy, ultraism, faith in God [NOT religion], personal enterprise, creativity, innovativeness, wisdom, understanding, sustainability, communication, problem-solving, +ve change management, adaptability, resilience...emanate from the arts and humanities subjects (STEAMER, 2024; Okware & Ngaka, 2023). That notwithstanding, the global policy regime remains unfazed about their support and promotion of the silo of STEM subjects and AI. In my view, if indeed, the global policy regime were well-meaning regarding, they would be talking of and promoting the more inclusive and democratic concept of Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) subjects thinking instead. Sorry, but quite candidly, anybody who is still 100% STEM thinking could be suffering from a serious case of '21st-century illiteracy'. Over to the you.