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
| Sep 4, 2013
K-12 school design that pays off for students
More and more educators are being influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach to pedagogy, with its mantra of “environment as the third teacher”—an approach that gives Building Teams a responsibility to pay even closer attention to the special needs of today’s schools.
| Sep 4, 2013
Smart building technology: Talking results at the BUILDINGChicago/ Greening the Heartland show
Recent advancements in technology are allowing owners to connect with facilities as never before, leveraging existing automation systems to achieve cost-effective energy improvements. This BUILDINGChicago presentation will feature Procter & Gamble’s smart building management program.
| Sep 3, 2013
'School in a box' project will place school in San Diego public library
Thinking outside the box, LPA Inc. is designing a school inside a box. With an emphasis on three E’s—Engage, Educate, and Empower—e3 Civic High is now being constructed on the sixth and seventh floors of a public library in downtown San Diego. Library patrons will be able to see into the school via glass elevators, but will not have physical access to the school.
| Aug 30, 2013
Modular classrooms gaining strength with school boards
With budget, space needs, and speed-to-market pressures bearing down on school districts, modular classroom assemblies are often a go-to solution.
| Aug 27, 2013
College of the Desert in Palm Springs to produce more energy than it consumes
A 60-acre solar farm next to the College of the Desert in Palm Springs, Calif., along with a number of sustainable building features, are projected to help the campus produce more energy than it uses.
| Aug 26, 2013
What you missed last week: Architecture billings up again; record year for hotel renovations; nation's most expensive real estate markets
BD+C's roundup of the top construction market news for the week of August 18 includes the latest architecture billings index from AIA and a BOMA study on the nation's most and least expensive commercial real estate markets.
| Aug 26, 2013
13 must-attend continuing education sessions at BUILDINGChicago
Building Design+Construction's new conference and expo, BUILDINGChicago, kicks off in two weeks. The three-day event will feature more than 65 AIA CES and GBCI accredited sessions, on everything from building information modeling and post-occupancy evaluations to net-zero projects and LEED training. Here are 13 sessions I'm planning to attend.
| Aug 22, 2013
Energy-efficient glazing technology [AIA Course]
This course discuses the latest technological advances in glazing, which make possible ever more efficient enclosures with ever greater glazed area.
| Aug 14, 2013
Five projects receive 2013 Educational Facility Design Excellence Award
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) has selected five educational and cultural facilities for this year’s CAE Educational Facility Design Awards.
| Aug 14, 2013
Green Building Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.