Throughout the month of June, we will be highlighting topics specific to the Education discipline.

In light of finding the Top Education Degrees infographic below on “Why STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Matters,” we asked a couple members of our leadership team at Academic Partnerships the question, “Why do the STEM disciplines matter?” Take a look at their responses.

“The failure to prepare students for careers in science, math, technology and engineering is systemic–it begins with inadequate access to quality math and science instruction early in their education, and often ends with their being ineligible and unprepared for undergraduate degrees in these fields. This results in cutting hundreds of thousands of students out of high-salary jobs in critical economic growth areas in America. Those of us involved in educating teachers and administrators have a special responsibility to ensure they are prepared to recruit and support more students in STEM programs, thereby increasing the pipe line into undergraduate and graduate programs in these critical areas.”

-Jeri Nowakowski, EdD, Senior Advisor, Academic Partnerships

“There is no question whatsoever that our nation is facing a critical shortage of those who are prepared in STEM-field related academic disciplines. Scholarship programs modeled after the National Science Foundation efforts used so effectively during the “space race” period in the 60s, would be worth revisiting.

According to Max Warshauer, a noted mathematician, to address our nation’s critical shortage of STEM-field prepared professionals in a systemic way, we must focus our resources and efforts beginning in our elementary schools.”

-Kenneth Craycraft, EdD, Executive Vice President, Academic Partnerships

Source: Why STEM Matters