STEMming Needs

Math is hard. It’s a common phrase heard among Americans, but three simple words could be responsible for a global shift.

The United States once stood on the forefront of innovation, but because of a declining student interest in STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematic – fields, America’s reputation as a global innovator is waning.

The U.S. Department of Education reports only 16 percent of American high school seniors are proficient in mathematics and interested in a STEM career. Among those who pursue a college major in the STEM fields, only about half choose to work in a related career. It means the U.S. is falling behind, ranking 25th in mathematics and 17th in science among industrialized nations.

Aided in part by a 2010 initiative by President Barack Obama, local educators aim to do something about it.

Ozarks Technical Community College recently received roughly $1 million in federal grant funding to form its chemical laboratory technology program and offer an associate degree or certificate to 108 students beginning in 2015.

“Missouri ranks below the national average in STEM workforce and the need is huge,” said Jen Snyder, chairwoman of OTC’s department of physical science and a chemistry instructor. “We need workers now, and this two-year program will enable students to get into the field quickly.”

The grant is part of $19.7 million in funding to Missouri’s 12 community colleges and the State Technical College of Missouri through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant Program aimed at training an estimated 1,900 workers in STEM careers.

Creating MoSTEMWins, which will train Missourians for jobs in transportation, manufacturing, information technology, health services/health sciences and science support, the program will be similar to MoHealthWins, created in 2011 with a $20 million statewide grant, and MoManufacturingWins, brought about in 2012 with a $17.9 million grant.

At OTC
The Springfield-based college currently offers a handful of associate degrees in science, ranging from chemistry to biology, but Snyder said the degrees are more of a jumping off point for students.

“It’s really a transferable degree you would take to a four-year university and continue your education,” she said. “This program will be different. When students graduate, they will be ready to enter the workforce immediately.”

Snyder said the degree offers a diversified path for students, allowing those interested in science, but not necessarily the best at math, a chance to follow their dreams.

“Most students enter the university level behind in math skills and spend their time trying to play catch-up,” she said, noting math preparedness needs to be addressed at the high school level. “This new program is for people who just want to work in science. It will teach lab skills and things the workforce desperately needs. There is not a lot of math involved. It’s the perfect solution right now.”

Primarily an online degree program requiring a weekly block of lab time, Snyder said the format also lends itself to the schedule of an average person, allowing more students to take advantage of the new opportunity.

Following the program’s announcement, a handful of students already have expressed interest for next year, she said.

OTC’s College Director of Grant Development Katherine Craft said the grant allows the school to purchase needed – and expensive – equipment.

“We can now buy lab equipment we were not otherwise able to afford,” she said. “We can really develop that chem lab atmosphere for the students, allowing better learning opportunities and a smoother transition into the field.”

In the workforce
With a goal of implementation by 2020, Obama’s “Educate to Innovate” campaign includes public-private investments of more than $250 million to help prepare more than 10,000 new math and science teachers and train more than 100,000 existing teachers. According to the DOE, the president’s 2015 budget includes $170 million for the STEM Innovation Proposal, designed to train the next generation of innovators; $110 million for STEM Innovation Networks, awarding grants to transform STEM teaching and learning by accelerating the adoption of practices; $40 million for STEM Teacher Pathways, to prepare 100,000 STEM teachers; and $20 million for the National STEM Master Teacher Corps, to identify, refine and share models to help teachers make the transition.

Brewer Science Corporate Relations Manager Loretta Wallis said the shift can’t happen soon enough.

“We have a huge need and are always looking for STEM skills, targeting colleges with strong science and technology backgrounds,” she said of the Rolla-based company’s intern program.

“We convert about 60 percent of our interns to full-time employees. The need is always there.”

Wallis said this summer, the company, a tenant in the Roy Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center, had 30 interns from across Missouri ranging from a high school student to a man with his Ph.D.

“We use the program as a recruitment tool because finding people in the area is a challenge,” said Doyle Edwards, director of government programs for Brewer Science. “I think STEM it taking on a cultural awareness now. It’s become a buzzword.”

Doyle said STEM careers often, but not always, operate in the manufacturing arena and the industry often has a negative stigma.

“In a national survey, parents were asked two questions: How many feel manufacturing is important and vital to the economy – and about 80 percent said yes. They were then asked how many want their kids to go into manufacturing, and only 20 percent said yes. There is a misconception there,” he said. “What manufacturing was and what manufacturing is are two different things. These aren’t sweatshops. They are highly automated workshops and labs that need skilled workers.”

Educators say parents seeking to push their children into white-collar jobs and away from manual labor may have caused the current gap. Wallis said while STEM jobs are in demand, the overall perception of labor must change.

“Someone in a STEM field can invent a new gadget, but if we don’t have someone there to fabricate it, to actually weld the pieces together, we are no further along,” she said. “Everyone needs to operate under the same umbrella. Colleges like OTC understand that.”

Snyder said the key going forward will not only be training teachers and identifying students early, but also retaining and engaging them.

“They go to college and sit in a general chemistry class with 100 plus other students and get facts thrown at them. Then they go to a poli-sci class and have fun,” she said. “It’s no contest what they are going to choose. We need to change that.”