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
| Jun 11, 2013
Building a better box: High-bay lab aims for net-zero [2013 Building Team Award winner]
Building Team cooperation and expertise help Georgia Tech create a LEED Platinum building for energy science.
| Jun 7, 2013
First look: University of Utah's ‘teaching hospital for law’
The University of Utah broke ground on its cutting-edge College of Law building, which will facilitate new approaches to legal education based on more hands-on learning and skills training.
| Jun 5, 2013
USGBC: Free LEED certification for projects in new markets
In an effort to accelerate sustainable development around the world, the U.S. Green Building Council is offering free LEED certification to the first projects to certify in the 112 countries where LEED has yet to take root.
| Jun 3, 2013
Construction spending inches upward in April
The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce announced today that construction spending during April 2013 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $860.8 billion, 0.4 percent above the revised March estimate of $857.7 billion.
| May 23, 2013
Supertall 'Sky City' will house 4,400 families in Changsha, China
Broad Sustainable Building has completed a long and arduous approval process, and is starting excavation and construction on Sky City in June, 2013. The proposed "world's tallest building" will be a mixed-use project that could accommodate life and work needs of up to 30,000 people.
| May 17, 2013
University labs double as K-12 learning environments
Increasingly, college and university research buildings are doing double duty as homes for K-12 STEM programs. Here’s how to create facilities that captivate budding scientists while keeping faculty happy.
| May 15, 2013
Center for Green Schools, Architecture for Humanity release new tool for green schools
The 70-page guide demystifies the processes of identifying building improvement opportunities and finance and implementation strategies.
| May 1, 2013
Groups urge Congress: Keep energy conservation requirements for government buildings
More than 350 companies urge rejection of special interest efforts to gut key parts of Energy Independence and Security Act
| Apr 30, 2013
Tips for designing with fire rated glass - AIA/CES course
Kate Steel of Steel Consulting Services offers tips and advice for choosing the correct code-compliant glazing product for every fire-rated application. This BD+C University class is worth 1.0 AIA LU/HSW.
| Apr 30, 2013
First look: North America's tallest wooden building
The Wood Innovation Design Center (WIDC), Prince George, British Columbia, will exhibit wood as a sustainable building material widely availablearound the globe, and aims to improve the local lumber economy while standing as a testament to new construction possibilities.