Welders, as Marco Rubio recently reminded us, sometimes earn more than philosophers. But neither of them earn as much as students who receive degrees in STEM subjects. So perhaps the most encouraging bit of data to emerge from the ACT’s “The Condition of STEM 2015” report is this: Of the nearly two million high school graduates who took the ACT in 2015, 49 percent had an interest in STEM.
Interest, however, does not necessarily translate into aptitude. For the first time this year, ACT has added a new “STEM score” to their report—an acknowledgement of recent research indicating that college success in science, technology, engineering, and math classes requires a higher level of preparedness than ACT’s previous benchmarks in math and science alone seemed to predict.
Based on this enhanced measure, a paltry 20 percent of the 2015 ACT test takers were deemed ready for first-year STEM college courses. For reference, readiness is defined as either 1) a 50 percent chance of earning a B or higher or 2) a 75 percent chance of earning a C or higher in freshman courses like calculus, biology, chemistry, and physics. Among students who say that they are interested in STEM majors or careers, readiness jumps to 26 percent. (OK, "jumps" might be something of an overstatement.) And for those whose interests and activities, according to ACT’s “interest inventory,” indicate that STEM is for them, readiness climbs “all the way up” to 33 percent. None of which inspires confidence that the next Bill Gates or Steve Wozniak is acing freshman math as we speak (assuming they haven’t already dropped out and set up shop in the garage).
The report also surfaces a bit of a vicious circle: Nearly half of the class of 2015 might say they’re interested in STEM majors, but few plan to teach these subjects to tomorrow’s STEM-minded pupils. “Less than 1 percent of all ACT-tested graduates expressed an interest in teaching math or science,” the report notes. "Despite a larger number of ACT-tested and STEM-interested students this year, the number interested in teaching math and science was lower than in 2014.” Given their demonstrated lack of proficiency, this might not be all bad.
No word on how many want to become welders.
SOURCE: “The Condition of STEM 2015,” ACT, Inc. (2015).
