The Carnegie Science Center recently published a multi-faceted look at STEM education in a seventeen-county area encompassing parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. The impetus of the study was a perceived "STEM gap"—employers in the region report having difficulty finding individuals with the requisite technical skills to fill vacant positions. Campos Research Strategy conducted in-depth interviews with educators and business leaders, surveyed nearly 1000 parents of school-age children in the region, held “family dialogues,” and conducted an online survey of one hundred middle and high school students. Efforts were made to balance participants among the counties and between rural and urban areas. Despite high hopes for STEM education among business, industry, and education leaders, the study found that parents’ and students’ awareness and understanding of what STEM is and how it might benefit them or their children is low. Awareness of STEM seems highest in urban areas in the region, but parents’ interest in STEM-related fields for their children is lowest in those same places. A majority of parents participating in the study indicated that their underlying attitudes toward education and careers aligned with many STEM fundamentals, but the typical language of STEM education and careers did not resonate with them. Anecdotes given by educators indicate that adults who had never participated in “engaging, hands-on activities” during their K–12 schooling were mistrustful of such education methods—seen as key components of the type of STEM education most needed in the area—and were a barrier to participation in them for their own children. Science and technology education in middle and high school was far more likely to be seen by parents as a precursor to college rather than as a career path unto itself. Although not covered in the study, it’s hard not to think about the increased emphasis and additional education resources being spent on STEM education. Is that money going to be wasted, or will quality programs drive public opinion and build support? If educators don’t do a better job of convincing parents that STEM opens both economic and educational opportunities for their kids, the STEM investment seems likely to be squandered, and the need for technical skills will remain.
SOURCE: Campos Research Strategy, “Work to Do: The Role of STEM Education in Improving the Tri-State Region’s Workforce,” Carnegie Science Center (October, 2014).
