In 2011, the Commerce Department’s Economics and Statistics Administration, using Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projections, predicted that STEM-related occupations would expand by 17% from 2008 through 2018, compared to 9.8% growth for all non-STEM jobs during that same period.
Educators certainly bought into that projection, based on the increasing number of school districts across America whose high schools now offer STEM and STEAM courses or have built separate academies for these disciplines.
But has STEM, which the business community urged school districts to embrace, been oversold as a career path? Education Week magazine asked that very question in May 2018, and concluded, based on its own reporting and research, that while the government’s forecasting was basically on target, its inference that there’s this expanding pipeline of primed high school students itching to pursue STEM as a college major or career choice is “more nuanced” than the Commerce Dept.’s prognostications might suggest.
Around the same time that EdWeek published its findings, Junior Achievement USA and Ernst & Young released the results of a survey of 1,000 13- to 17-year-old students, conducted online in late February and early March, which uncovered a notable drop off—to 24%, from 37% in 2017—in the number of boys who said they wanted a STEM career. Girls’ interest in STEM remained unchanged, at 11%.
Ed Grocholski, Junior Achievement’s Senior Vice President-Brands, wasn’t completely surprised by the survey’s results, which he attributes, in part, to a lack of exposure that students have to STEM-related employees and fields. Conversely, the number of teens interested in medical or dental careers increased to 19% from 15%, with girls more likely to choose that path.
“Those professions are tangible to teens, and are something they can relate to, because they’ve either gone to a doctor or dentist, or have seen them on TV,” says Grocholski. He adds that teens are interested in professions they think will help people, like education, public service, law enforcement,
and the military.
Junior Achievement has been trying to fill the mentoring gap with volunteers who serve as role models. But he admits that such efforts “sometimes forget about the inspiration part.”
The takeaway for AEC firms, he says, is to get more involved in talking about their industry to youngsters, because “outside of TV, kids aren’t paying attention, even though a lot of STEM might actually coincide with their interests.”
Related Stories
| Apr 23, 2014
Mean and Green: Top 10 green building projects for 2014 [slideshow]
The American Institute of Architects' Committee on the Environment has selected the top ten examples of sustainable architecture and ecological design projects that protect and enhance the environment. Projects range from a project for Portland's homeless to public parks to a LEED Platinum campus center.
| Apr 16, 2014
Upgrading windows: repair, refurbish, or retrofit [AIA course]
Building Teams must focus on a number of key decisions in order to arrive at the optimal solution: repair the windows in place, remove and refurbish them, or opt for full replacement.
| Apr 15, 2014
12 award-winning structural steel buildings
Zaha Hadid's Broad Art Museum and One World Trade Center are among the projects honored by the American Institute of Steel Construction for excellence in structural steel design.
| Apr 15, 2014
Chipperfield's sparkling brass-clad scheme selected to be new home of Nobel Prize
The distinctive building, with its shimmering vertical brass elements and glass façade design, beat out two other finalists in the Nobel Center architectural competition.
| Apr 14, 2014
Perkins+Will-designed KSU Engineering building now under construction
The facility will consolidate instructional, research, and office space from across campus into a flexible environment.
| Apr 9, 2014
Steel decks: 11 tips for their proper use | BD+C
Building Teams have been using steel decks with proven success for 75 years. Building Design+Construction consulted with technical experts from the Steel Deck Institute and the deck manufacturing industry for their advice on how best to use steel decking.
| Apr 8, 2014
Science, engineering find common ground on the Northeastern University campus [slideshow]
The new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building is designed to maximize potential of serendipitous meetings between researchers.
| Apr 2, 2014
8 tips for avoiding thermal bridges in window applications
Aligning thermal breaks and applying air barriers are among the top design and installation tricks recommended by building enclosure experts.
| Mar 26, 2014
Callison launches sustainable design tool with 84 proven strategies
Hybrid ventilation, nighttime cooling, and fuel cell technology are among the dozens of sustainable design techniques profiled by Callison on its new website, Matrix.Callison.com.
| Mar 20, 2014
Common EIFS failures, and how to prevent them
Poor workmanship, impact damage, building movement, and incompatible or unsound substrate are among the major culprits of EIFS problems.