In honor of inauguration day, it only seems appropriate to talk about the bright future President Obama has promised when it comes to STEM. Just one month ago, the Obama Administration announced that increasing the number of students who earn undergrad degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by 1 million over the next decade was formally designated as a Cross-Agency Priority (CAP) goal. Before the announcement, President Obama had said time and again that science and innovation are key components of a strong American economy and that increasing opportunities for young Americans to gain STEM skills can create jobs and enhance our national competitiveness simultaneously. The Department of Commerce estimates that STEM occupations will grow 1.7 times faster than non-STEM occupations between 2008 and 2018. This means that the U.S. will need just about 1 million more STEM professionals that are projected to graduate over the next 10 years.
Making this happen is going to require a lot of work. Not only on behalf of the Federal Government and other involved entities, but huge efforts on retention of STEM majors during their initial years of college will need to take place. Currently, less than 40 percent of students who enter college intending to major in a STEM field actually walk away with a STEM degree. Increasing STEM retention rates to just 50 percent would generate around three-quarters of the 1 million!
While work has already been conducted to figure out ways to keep STEM students on course to earning a STEM degree, the CAP goal announced in December proposes to focus efforts in five promising areas of opportunity:
- Identifying and implementing evidence-based practices to improve STEM teaching and to attract students to STEM courses
- Providing more opportunities for students to engage in meaningful STEM activities through research experiences, especially in their first two years of college
- Addressing the mathematics preparation gap that students face when they arrive at college, using evidence-based practices that generate improved results
- Providing educational opportunities and supports for women and historically underrepresented minorities
- Identifying and supporting innovation in higher education
Industry, academia, foundations and other partners are coming together with the Federal Government on this issue. It should be exciting to see the ups and downs of this journey towards better STEM education unfold. Read more about the CAP goal and Michael Feder's initial report here.
