Project

OECD and STEM Education in America

Meshach, Robert, Shawn, Jose

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Project Outline

1. Minorities in STEM

A. Meshach Oommen, Shawn Benny, Robert Hargenrater, Jose S.

B. Minorities in STEM related fields are very low in this country

2. STEM FACTS

A. Employment Statistics

From 2006 to 2011 the total number of people employed in professional and other

related occupations was up six percent, while the number of STEM related jobs have varied during the

same period.

• STEM proves to be the most profitable for minority students.

• STEM subjects earn at least 25% more than their peers who majored in humanities and

educational fields.

• Hispanics out of all the minorities, Latinos reported highest annual earnings among

STEM majors.

• Women only make up 15% of all engineering students.

3. Paper topics

• Investing in STEM education.

• STEM education at a young age and what we can do better.

• STEM education in high schools and how we can gain more interest from students.

• STEM education in higher learning and how we can increase the amount of STEM

graduates.

• Write a conclusion to give ending facts and tie up loose ends.

As a group are exchanging emails on a daily basis and working diligently to complete the report in a

timely manner.

C. Symposium Presentation

• Be prepared to be able to discuss important topics to listeners.

• Come prepared to be able to communicate main points to audience.

• Make sure all group members know what they need to discuss.

OECD and STEM Education in America

Meshach, Robert, Shawn, Jose

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Meshach O

Robert H

Shawn B

Jose S

OECD and STEM Education in America

The importance of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in society today is

greatly underappreciated. What many don’t understand is that STEM is a way into the future. Without

these vital scientists and mathematicians the United States will keep dropping down the ladder. Many

of the questions we as a nation and society need to ask is, what can we do to keep America great and

keep the innovation and ingenuity of this country at the top of the ladder. In the next ten years alone

STEM job creation is set to grow at a seventeen percent rate as compared to the nine point eight

percent non-stem fields will see.

“The success of the United States in the 21st century- its wealth and welfare- will depend on

ideas and skills of its population.” (President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, 2010)

By investing is STEM and making STEM our priority we can start molding our youth at a young age to

see the fun in STEM and what all that it has helped us accomplish. Not only investing in STEM but our

education system as a whole will help. “25 years ago, the U.S led the world in high school and college

graduation rates. Today the U.S. has dropped to 20th and 16th.” (Education at a Glance, 2011) With

higher salaries for teachers, our school districts can hire competent well trained teachers and districts

can also buy the necessary equipment needed to engage the students.

The purpose of STEM is to boost the students at learning more in school and in life. With

STEM they should be problem solvers, which are to be able to define questions and problems, to gather

data and collect which at the end they would be able to understand the situation. STEM education

involves student in solving authentic engineer and math problems, working with others and building

real solutions to the real world. With proper STEM education funding teachers may be better prepared

to train and gauge the interest of their students. As Lantz has said, “Part of the underlying problem is

the lack of a clear definition of what the implementation of STEM education should accomplish.”

(Lantz, 2013) STEM education should be recognized by all schools and even colleges. “One of the

recommendations of the committee for Rising above the Gathering Storm is the creation of K-12

curriculum materials modeled on a world-class standard”. (Lantz, 2013) STEM should be more

mandatory to the country as it will help it progress in the future.

“To accomplish this, the report states, “convene a national panel to collect, evaluate, and develop

rigorous K-12 materials that would be available free of charge as a voluntary national curriculum.”

(Lantz, 2013) Making the materials available for schools and the teachers will be a great advantage as

people will have the resources and materials to teach STEM education.

At a young age there are quite a few areas that cause the inhibited growth of STEM training.

The first of many causes is that while younger students are able to soak up knowledge like a sponge,

they lack a mentor who is appropriately trained in that the STEM field. While, yes, teachers do a great

job teaching children how to grow up and make important life changing decisions, if a teacher trained

in knowledge of the STEM fields taught these students, the number would be dramatically higher.

OECD and STEM Education in America

Meshach, Robert, Shawn, Jose

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Another cause which many would think as irrelevant is the fact that it is not part of certain

culture norms. "Math and science are not considered “cool” among image-conscious high school

students, inevitably many talented young people will be turned off from pursuing degrees and careers

in STEM fields.” (Joint Economic Committee Chairman’s Staff, 2012) The United States is one of the

main offenders when it comes to trends with image-conscious high school students. As the age of the

children increase their way through kindergarten to the 12th grade, there is a decrease in the number of

children that take pride in working hard. A detailed list with OECD standings pertaining math and

science show the decrease in STEM education in the United States. The one thing we as the future

leaders of tomorrow can do is teach children that STEM education is an important asset to the growth

of not only our country but the world as a whole.

STEM education in higher learning is vital for the United States to keep up with demand and to

also keep up with other nations. “The share of bachelor’s degrees awarded in STEM fields peaked at 24

percent in 1985; by 2009, the share had fallen to 18 percent. The share of master’s degrees in STEM

fields dropped from 18 percent to 14 percent over the same period.” (Joint Economic Committee

Chairman’s Staff pg4 paragraph 2) What this statistic means is that the United States is falling behind

more than ever right now. Without the properly trained students in STEM fields our country will suffer,

and our nation’s great ingenuity and innovation will also take a hit.

http://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=6aaa7e1f-9586-47be-82e7-

326f47658320

OECD and STEM Education in America

Meshach, Robert, Shawn, Jose

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The issue of STEM education in our country starts at the national level. It is known that they are

the stronger entity in our national and the drive and initiative has to start there. “By providing financial

and technical support to states for rigorous, high-quality professional development aligned with shared

standards, and the development, evaluation, administration, and ongoing improvement of assessments

aligned to those standards.” (President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, 2010 pg. viii)

These additional funds have to be used to recruit at least 100,000 new teachers who are extensively

trained in STEM subjects with the pedagogical skills to teach the subjects. Next we have to increase the

technology used to teach our students. Technology is something that is constantly evolving which will

cause a transformative role in education. By improving technology in education, “available to teachers

and students, aiding in the development of high-quality assessments that capture student learning, and

accelerating the collection and use of data to provide rich feedback to students, teachers, and schools.”

(President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, 2010 pg. ix paragraph 2)

http://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=6aaa7e1f-9586-47be-82e7-

326f47658320

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Meshach, Robert, Shawn, Jose

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In conclusion what can we do as a great nation with plentiful resources, to engage our youth in

new ways that they will be interested in STEM from a young age and how are we falling short of our

goals. “Without a strong foundation in math and science from elementary and secondary school,

students may find themselves unprepared to train for and pursue careers in STEM fields.” (Joint

Economic Committee Chairman’s Staff, 2012 Pg. 8 Paragraph 1) If we provide our children with a

stronger foundation in subjects related to STEM we can curve our negative trend in STEM into a

positive one. One suggestion is pay more experienced teachers better salaries to attract them into

teaching. The most pressing challenge right now is that the teaching field does not pay as well as other

fields that STEM educated professionals are interested in. “Part of the problem is that it is challenging

to attract and retain STEM-trained individuals to teach STEM subjects at the K-12 level when higher

wages and employment opportunities outside of the education sector make working in a STEM

profession an attractive alternative.” (Joint Economic Committee Chairman’s Staff, 2012 Pg. 8

Paragraph 1). If we can provide our students with a better platform from the beginning and start

engaging them to think more creatively, we can definitely reverse our downward trend in STEM

education.

“In order to reap the full gains to be had from technological innovation, the U.S. must employ a

multifaceted approach to fostering an environment where innovation can flourish. Ultimately,

improving STEM education and boosting the size and caliber of the STEM workforce in the United

States will not be sufficient if research and development budgets are slashed or if proper incentives are

not in place for businesses to invest in innovation.” (Joint Economic Committee Chairman’s Staff,

2012 Pg. 9 Paragraph 3)

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Bibliography

Lantz, H. (n.d.). What Should Be the Function of a K-12 STEM Education? . Educator Resources:

Teaching Tips, Tools & Articles. Retrieved March 7, 2013, from

http://www.seenmagazine.us/articles/article-detail/articleid/208/what-should-be-the-function-of-a-k-12-

stem-education.aspx

President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. (2010). Retrieved from website:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-stemed-report.pdf

Joint Economic Committee Chairman’s Staff. (2012). Retrieved from U.S. Joint Economic Committee

website: http://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?a=Files.Serve

National Math and Science Initiative (n.d.). Why stem education matters. Retrieved from

http://iei.nd.edu/assets/78206/why_stem_education_matters.pdf

OECD (2011), Education at a Glance 2011: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2011-en

US and other OECD countries STEM education: a Comparative Study

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-stemed-report.pdf