STATE OF EMERGENCY: The ominous US Crisis in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education and Training.

By Calvin Mackie, PhD

Simply, in the 21st century, one of America’s greatest challenges will be educating and training a technical workforce to ensure that we can compete and thrive globally. If we are to compete on the global stage in a ever expanding global economy where Science,Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) are the new intellectual and innovative currencies, we must motivate, inspire and train an entire generations of Americans to become STEM literate in general, and to pursue STEM careers specifically.  We must motivate, inspire, recruit, retain and graduate more American teachers at every level in STEM related academic subjects to produce the workforce of the knowledge and green economy.

As the knowledge economy grows, it is important that we produce more scientists and engineers, invest in research and development infrastructure and increase all American students understanding of science, technology engineering and mathematics (STEM).  If we do not do such things, we threaten our economic welfare as well as the security of the country.  For more than half a century, the United States has led the world in scientific discovery and innovation and now that leadership is being challenged by factors at home and abroad. Foreign advances are challenging the United States leadership in innovation and STEM education. The US has been a beacon, drawing the best scientists to its educational institutions, industries and laboratories from around the globe. American educational institutions have always had the advantage of skimming the cream of the crop from nations like China, India and Japan bringing the best minds in the world to study and eventually work in the U.S.  However, in today’s rapidly evolving competitive world, the U.S. can no longer take its supremacy for granted. Nations from Europe to Eastern Asia are on a fast track to pass the United States in scientific excellence and technological innovation. (The Task Force on The Future of American Innovation: Innovation is America’s Heartbeat)

The catastrophic events of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the collapse of Interstate I-45 in Minnesota demonstrate that we have to educate, develop and train more US born scientist and engineers. As such, many politicians, educators and business leaders are truly concern about the country’s ability to compete in the future. President Bush in his 2005 State of the Union address called for a $136 billion boost in science and education research over the next 10 years. President Bush stated, “We cannot afford to be complacent. In a dynamic world economy, we are seeing new competitors, like China and India.”  Why are President Bush and other leaders concerned? Consider the following:

• In 2005, China graduated 500,000 engineers, India, 200,000 and North America, 70,000. (National Academy of Science Report: Rising Above the Gathering Storm)
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that science and technology jobs will increase by 26 percent, compared to 15 percent for all occupations, from 2002 to 2012. Computer science and mathematics alone are projected to increase by 39 percent.
• According to the National Science Foundation (NSF), more than half of the US PhD degrees awarded in physics, engineering, mathematics and computer science are awarded to Non US citizens. In 2004 alone, 46 percent of master’s degrees and 57 percent of doctoral degrees were awarded to foreign nationals.
• In the US in 2005, less than 5 percent of all undergraduate degrees were awarded to engineers, compared to 8 percent in 1985. The production of engineering degrees by women, African-Americans and Hispanics are declining or flat line at best. (American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), PRISM Magazine, October 2006, pages 27-31)
• According to the National Science Board, the number of 18-24 year olds in the US who receive science degrees has fallen to 17^th in the world, whereas it ranked third three decades ago.
• According to the NSF, the percentage of scientific papers written by Americans has fallen 10 % since 1992.
• The percentage of American papers published in the top physics journal Physical review has fallen from 61% to 29% since 1983. (NY Times 5/3/04 William Broad, “US is Losing Its Dominance in the Sciences”)
• By the year 2050, members of underrepresented minority groups will constitute half of the U.S. college-age population. Such groups share lower rates of high school completion, college attendance, and college completion in comparison to non-Hispanic whites and Asian Americans. (NACME – National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering – “Confronting the “New” American Dilemma”)
• The disparity in the representation of minorities, as well as women, is becoming an increasing problem for the STEM disciplines given the demographic changes occurring in society. African Americans, American Indians, and Latinos constitute 30% of the nation’s undergraduate students, a proportion that is expected to grow to 32% in 2010 and 38% by 2025. Latinos will account for 90% of the growth; they will constitute one-sixth of the nation’s population by 2011. Yet, today, fewer than 12% of baccalaureate engineering graduates in this country are underrepresented minorities. (NACME – New Dilemma)

To remain competitive, there are great challenges and factors to overcome. Those factors include but are not limited to a shortage of scientific mentors, parental pressure on kids to seek more lucrative careers, discrimination against science-bound women and minorities, the prevailing nerd image of scientists and engineers, the lack of science and math preparation for K-12 teachers and the country’s unhealthy and overzealous focus on celebrity and fame. As Thomas L. Friedman noted in his best sellers, “The World is Flat:”, “In China, Bill Gates is a star, a celebrity, students would hang from rafters to get a glimpse of or hear a speech from Bill Gates. In China, Bill Gates is Britney Spears, and in America, Britney Spears, well, is Britney Spears.”

We have to do a better job of informing and preparing our children of the future and what will be needed from them to succeed and thrive in a global community. For example, in 2005, the Raytheon Corporation surveyed 1,000 11 to 13 year olds and discovered that 84% stated that they would rather “clean their room, eat vegetables, go to the dentist or take out the garbage than learn math or science.” In essence, 84 percent of the kids have no interest in preparing themselves to participate in the knowledge global economy. Recently Craig Barrett, the former CEO of Intel, noted that Intel sponsors an international science competition every year and in 2004, it attracted some 50,000 American high school kids. “I was in China 10 days ago,” Mr. Barrett said, “and I asked them how many kids in China participated in the local science fairs that feed into the national fair [and ultimately the Intel finals]. They told me six million kids (The World is Flat:, Thomas L Friedman). Our students and their parents must realize that they are now competing against the World and other nations are doing a better job of preparing their children for a stable future based on a technological economy.

To remain competitive, the US must train and develop an emerging US talent pool that looks very different from years and decades past. Women and minorities are the fasted growing populations in the US and efforts must be made to include these populations in STEM areas. However, we are failing as according to NACME, only 4% of underrepresented minorities graduate high school “engineering eligible.” For example, in 2002, 690,000 minority students graduated from high school, but only about 28,000 had taken the necessary math and science courses to be fully qualified for admission to engineering study. Approximately 17,000 of them enrolled as first-year students in engineering schools out of a total class of 107,000. That same year, 4,136 Latinos, 2,982 African Americans, and 308 American Indians received baccalaureate degrees in engineering out of a total of 60,639 minority graduates, according to data from the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology (CPST).  Therefore, we need more trained and certified STEM teachers in K-12 who can serve as role models and mentors for women and minority students in the STEM pipeline.

Teachers and Counselors are the gateway to the 21^st Century for our students. If the teachers are not prepared or trained in their respective STEM field, if counselors are unaware or don’t believe STEM is for all students and if the students are not challenged with rigor and high expectations, the students as well as the viability of this country are doomed. Teachers, from preschool through graduate schools must infuse STEM throughout their curriculum including active, hands-on, project-based real world experiential learning. The country cannot move forward leaving most of her people behind. If the country, her leaders and teachers fail to prepare and equip citizens from all population groups to participate and succeed in the present and future knowledge and technology driven economy, we risk undermining our own demise on the world stage, economically and intellectually.

TOC.

Teaching STEM:

Teachers Wanted for STEM Education Preparing Tomorrow’s Workforce

Promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Careers

Science Teachers Get A Glimpse Into The Classroom And Support For Their Future

STEM Corporate-Education Partnerships