STEM Career Exploration in Out-of-School Time

The acronym STEM is used a lot in education. Many people know that it is important, but we often don’t think about why it’s so critical for young learners to have opportunities to explore science, technology, engineering, and math.

You may have heard the phrase “STEM labor crisis”; a shortage of workers trained in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math leading to increased demands in the labor market. While many are concerned about this inadequacy of STEM trained individuals, other experts argue that it’s a myth. So, do we need to be concerned about the “STEM crisis”? The answer is it depends on how you look at it.

STEM careers include a variety of critical positions such as mathematicians, computer engineers, and biomedical researchers and many of these positions require advanced degrees. While shortages exist in some of these areas, there is actually a surplus in others such as the biomedical or chemistry fields. Graduates in these fields have struggled to find permanent positions and have been known to seek opportunities in other fields. On the other hand, the lack of students pursuing software development and engineering is concerning since these are surging industries.

The balance of shortages and surpluses will likely fluctuate but the importance of exposing young learners to various fields within STEM will always be critical. STEM programs in out-of-school-time settings have proven to extend interest and curiosity in STEM subjects, gain real life and career skills, and enhance awareness of career options in STEM. That’s just to name a few of the benefits of participating in STEM programs! The list could go on!

My background is in science. I graduated with a Master’s in Animal Science before realizing my passion for education. These paths intersected when I landed a role as a 4-H Youth Development Extension Educator. I was inspired to develop curriculum for an afterschool STEM program. My objective for this program is to provide an opportunity for elementary learners to explore different fields of science and picture themselves as real scientists.

Each session of this STEM career exploration program focuses on a different field of science, so participants have the opportunity to explore topics they may be unfamiliar with. While I’m sure to include popular topics like life science or chemistry, I am intentional about incorporating lessons that correlate to fields in surging industries that will need trained workers. For example, sessions that include computer coding or the engineering design process offer an opportunity to spark an interest and develop critical skills that could one day be used to pursue a career in software development or engineering.

As educators, teachers, mentors, and role models, it is up to us to prepare the next generation of STEM professionals. I believe every child, no matter their gender, race, where they live, etc. should have the opportunity to learn about and explore STEM subjects.

References

Biomedical research workforce working group report. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health; 2012. http://acd.od.nih.gov

Cyranoski David, Gilbert Natasha, Ledford Heidi, Nayar Anjali, Yahia Mohammed. The PhD factory. Nature. 2011 Apr 20;:276–279.

Krishnamurthi, A., Ballard, M., & Noam, G. G. (2014). Examining the Impact of Afterschool STEM Programs. Afterschool Alliance.

Porretto John. Oil companies scramble to find engineers. USA Today. 2007 Aug 31; usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2007-09-02-engineers_N.htm.Wadhwa Vivek. Mr. President, there is no engineer shortage. The Washington Post. 2011 Sep 1

Thibodeau Patrick. Electrical engineers see sharp uptick in Q1 jobless rate. Computerworld. 2013 Apr 22;