Magazine: Mechanical Engineering
Year: 2011
Month: November
Vol. 133
No. 11
Page: 17

Article Title: Highlighting the "E" in STEM

By: Melissa Carl

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are the fields showing strong job growth in the United States, and they are paying above-average wages. But is the country preparing its youth to step into those jobs in the next few years?

In July, the U.S. Department of Commerce released a report that showed over the past ten years, growth in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) jobs was three times greater than that of jobs in other fields, and faster-than-average growth is expected to last at least till 2018. STEM workers also commanded higher wages, about 25 percent more than their non-STEM counterparts.

However, there is concern that the current state of education in U.S. schools is not preparing many students to go into lucrative STEM careers. The World Economic Forum recently ranked the United States 48th in quality of mathematics and science education, and ACT Inc., the testing organization, has said that 78 percent of high school graduates did not meet the readiness benchmark levels for one or more entry-level college courses in mathematics, science, reading, and English.

While there has been much talk about the need to improve STEM education, there has not been much agreement among leaders on how to do so. In an April 2009 speech at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, President Obama said that improving STEM education would become a priority for his adminstration. But there have been limited resources given to this initiative, because of the fiscal climate.

The President's campaign to improve the participation and performance of America's students in STEM, called Educate to Innovate, leverages mostly private sector funding. One activity brought about by Educate to Innovate is Change the Equation, a new nongovernmental organization set up by more than 100 CEOs to align corporate efforts in STEM education. The Educate to Innovate campagin is new, so it is difficult to measure its impact to date on STEM education.

One of the goals of another group of CEOs, the president's Jobs and Competitiveness Council, is to increase the number of U.S. engineers trained by 10,000 a year. To do this, the council created the High Tech Education working group earlier this year. On Aug. 31, the working group, co-chaired by Intel CEO Paul Otellini and Permac Industries CEO Darlene Miller, announced that 45 industry leaders, including Boeing, Xerox, General Electric, and Facebook, have committed to doubling their engineering internships in 2012.

On Capito Hill, improving STEM education is a small part of the overall education conversation, especially in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a multi-billion-dollar bill that authorizes the majority of federally funded education programs. The science and engineering community feels that a more significant STEM focus is needed in the education act to ensure all students are scientifically literate and have the skills and training to compete for jobs in the 21st century economy. While there has been movement this year within both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to reauthorize the act, it is not being coordinated, and has created two vastly different proposals. So different, in fact, that even if each proposal passed its chamber, it is unlikely the differences between the two bills could be resolved by the current Congress.

The National Academy of Sciences released a new framework in July for K-12 science education that identifies the key scientific and engineering ideas and practices all students should learn by the end of high school. The framework will serve as the foundation for a state-led effort to develop new K-12 science education standards. This effort is similar to the common core standards eforts for reading and mathematics led by the National Governors Association, and will also not result in mandatory national standards.

An exciting development in this framework is that for the first time, engineering is included in the framework as a disciplinary core idea. While organizations like ASME have been advocating for the inclusion of engineering in K-12 education for well over a decade, the idea has only garngered more acceptance in the science and engineering community in recent years. In 2009, the National Academy of Engineering released the "Engineering in K-12" report, which suggested that the introduction of more engineering concepts into the K-12 classroom has potential to improve student learning and achievement in STEM subjects, increase awareness of engineering as a potential career, and boost students' overall technological literacy.

As chair of Engineers Week in 2012, ASME will be dedicating a significant effort to recognizing the exceptional educators who teach engineering in the K-12 classroom and who inspire our next generation of engineers. More information about ASME's EWeek activities will be available on asme.org in the coming weeks.

Melissa Carl is an ASME government relations manager. She can be reached at carlm@asme.org. Links to more legislative and regulatory information at http://bit.ly/MEWashingtonWindow.