Op-Ed: Is the Investment in STEM Education Paying Off?
Nov 11, 2017 | Keller
By Meghan Groome, Contributor |Aug. 17, 2017, at 10:00 a.m.
Between 1960 and 2013, workers in science and engineering fields have grown at an average annual rate of 3 percent compared to 2 percent overall growth of the total workforce. (iStockphoto)
For more than two decades there has been a hefty investment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in the United States. There is no question that this investment has, at the very least, brought the positives derived from better STEM education practices into the national conversation.
The goal of STEM education is to prepare a generation of citizens capable of making evidence-based decisions required for the innovative fields that are driving the 21st-century economy. And to that end, the U.S.'s investment is working. However, this commitment will need to continue in order to ensure accessibility to a quality STEM education for all students if the U.S. is to remain globally competitive over the long term.
According to the latest National Science Board's Science and Engineering Indicators, between 1960 and 2013, workers in science and engineering fields have grown at an average annual rate of 3 percent compared to 2 percent overall growth of the total workforce, with 5.7 million college graduates employed in STEM-based jobs. Workers employed in these sectors will earn more than double the median salary of the rest of the workforce, in jobs that are likely to have greater expansion prospects in the coming decades. This increase in STEM-related employment and higher salaries are the dividends that the investment in STEM education has paid.
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) from 2000 to 2013, the mathematics score of U.S. fourth-graders increased by more than 15 points. During the same period, U.S. eighth-graders saw their mathematics score increased by 12 points. At the high school level, the number of students who took an AP exam in mathematics or science has never been higher. Students taking these exams nearly doubled from 273,000 in 2003 to 527,000 in 2013. The increase in students taking the AP exam is a reflection of their better-prepared teachers. As of 2011, 91 percent of high school math teachers and 92 percent of high school science teachers hold regular or advanced state certification, an improvement of the 83 percent of math and science teachers who held regular or advanced state certification in 2003.
These successes at the grade school and high school level have translated to further improvements with increases in the on-time high school graduation rate and increased college enrollment rates, albeit with differences in demographic groups. But here too the trend is positive. In 2013, women constituted 50 percent of the college-educated workforce (a roughly 15 percent improvement over 20 years), 39 percent of employed individuals whose highest degree was in a STEM field, and 29 percent of those in STEM occupations.
However, gaps remain in minority groups. Hispanics, African-Americans, and American Indians or Alaska Natives together make up 27 percent of the U.S. population age 21 and older but only about 14 percent of the highest degree holders and 11 percent of the workers in the STEM workforce. In addition, for all the positive trends, American students are still far behind their peers in other developed nations. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's recent Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, the average math and science literacy score of students in the U.S. is 481 and 497, respectively, in 2012. The average for all developed countries was 501 in mathematics and 511 in scientific literacy in the same year.
If the U.S. is to remain competitive internationally it must improve these scores – starting with increased access to quality STEM education that adheres to stricter standards. At the collegiate level, students have been hurt by the lack of consistency in STEM education, and success has lagged for these students. From 2003 to 2009, 28 percent of students beginning their bachelor's degree chose a STEM major – more than any other bachelor's degree category. However, by the spring of 2009, 48 percent of these students left STEM for other fields or dropped out of college without earning a degree.
To combat these inefficiencies that fail the students who are unprepared for classes at the college level, further investment in STEM education by both government and the private sector, is required. America needs a workforce of skilled science and technology innovators to address our most pressing challenges and to provide a pathway to continued prosperity. It is not enough to make STEM education accessible; we must make sure it is of high quality to prepare students for challenges of the next century. In our programs, we define high quality as including access to scientists as mentors, opportunity to work on real-world problems, connections to work-ready or soft skills, and building students' network of connections to scientists and scientific institutions.
Is the investment in STEM education working? The short answer is mostly – but we can't sit back and say the job is done.
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