Survey Finds Youth Unlikely To Pursue STEM Careers
January 31, 2012
Career experts and politicians, including the likes of President Barack Obama, have long warned of an impending shortage of science, math, engineering and technology -- or STEM -- professionals in the United States. Will America's youth rise to the challenge? Not likely, at least if the results of a recent survey prove true.
According to Business News Daily , a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of the professional association the American Society for Quality, reveals that the majority of participants between grades 6 and 12 believe STEM-related careers will offer the most job opportunities down the line. Of the 713 respondents, 34 percent believe a career as a medical doctor is the most promising, while 25 percent believe engineers will fare best.
However, while STEM careers score high on the promise meter, 67 percent of respondents say they are unlikely to pursue careers in these fields. The culprits? Time and money. According to a press release , 26 percent of respondents feel the cost required to earn a degree in STEM is too high compared to other majors, and 25 percent believe these disciplines require too much work and studying.
Aptitude is another concern: 25 percent of respondents fear their math and science grades do not measure up, and for once, parents and teenagers see eye-to-eye. According to a sister survey of parents of 10 to 17-year-old students, 26 percent of respondents believe their children are not performing well in STEM subjects, and that teachers are to blame.
"It's encouraging to see that more students see the value of STEM careers like engineering, but clearly STEM professionals and educators can be doing more to support students along this career path," said Jim Rooney, ASQ chair, in the press release.
The survey also found that a current gender gap among STEM professionals is unlikely to shrink any time soon: 30 percent of participating girls consider math their most challenging subject, compared to 19 percent of boys. On the same note, 33 percent of girls believe their teachers do not prepare them for future STEM careers; just 9 percent of boys agree.
Lemelson Mit Prize - News
For his work with IPT, Naber was honored with numerous awards, including the Lemelson-MIT Prize, dubbed the “Oscar for Inventors,” for outstanding innovation and invention. IOWA: Tracy and Jennifer VanHoutan will never forget the fateful phone call
This project was funded by a Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam grant. Representing the team are: Carlie Schulter of Kennesaw, Ga. and Mathew Tompkins of Acworth, Ga. "It's an honor to have students from two of our four FIRST programs recognized at the White House
This information comes on the heels of another study published by the Lemelson-MIT program that found that while 42 percent of women age 16 to 25 rate math and science as their favorite subjects, fewer than 10 percent of female college graduates
It was created in the laboratory of John A. Rogers, a science and engineering professor who recently was announced as the winner of the as the winner of the 2011 Lemelson-MIT Prize, according to previous reports in The Herald-Sun.
He received the Lemelson-MIT Prize for Invention and Innovation, along with over 40 other major awards. A professor at Duke University, Ariely is a veteran TED lecturer. He researches irrationality as well as how and why people make decisions.
LEMELSON-MIT PRIZE for Ability to Engineer Living
Cambridge, Mass. (June 2, 2010)
This current work on manipulating processes within living cells to engineer their surfaces and secreted proteins, has won Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi the prestigious 2010 $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize. It is absolutely remarkable in its sciences and also potential applications for cancer treatment and diagnostics. Such advanced nanotechnologies for probing biological systems is the next horizon.
This novel approach may allow researchers to specifically and selectively target cells and functions they perform, for gene delivery and anti-tumor diagnostics. Bertozzi utilizes nano-reactions toward imaging glycans on tumor cells, methodology with potential to facilitate early cancer detection.
Reference and the full press release can be found at http://web.mit.edu/invent/n-pressreleases/n-press-10LMP.html , http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2010/06/02_bertozzi_lemelson_mit.shtml .
Dr. Bertozzi also has introduced a cell nanoinjector, an instrument that introduces molecules into living cells via nanoneedles.
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