STEM: Assessing the Relationship between Education and the Workforce

Posted by Government Accountability Office on July 7, 2014

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education programs can serve an important role both by helping to prepare students and teachers for careers in STEM fields and by enhancing the nation’s global competitiveness. As part of this effort, many federal agencies administer STEM education programs. In addition to the federal effort, state and local governments, universities and colleges, and the private sector have also developed programs that provide opportunities for students to pursue STEM education and occupations.

The current administration maintains that a strong educational pipeline creating future STEM workers is important to ensure that the United States remains competitive with other highly technological nations. Researchers disagree about the sufficiency of the current supply of STEM workers. While some researchers have concluded that the United States has a sufficient supply of STEM workers, others have found that the educational system is not producing enough STEM graduates to fill the jobs available in STEM occupations or in the increasing number of jobs in other fields that may require STEM competencies (such as analytical
skills).

In light of this disagreement, we were asked to review the alignment between STEM and workforce needs. Specifically, we reviewed (1) recent trends in the number of degrees and jobs in STEM fields, (2) the extent to which federal postsecondary STEM education programs take workforce needs into consideration, and (3) the extent to which federal kindergarten-12th grade (K-12) STEM education programs prepare students for postsecondary STEM education.

http://origin.library.constantcontact.com/download/get/file/1102608312958-493/SCIENCE,+TECHNOLOGY,+ENGINEERING,+AND+MATHEMATICS+EDUCATION.pdf