STEM Education In America

Great Essays
American people are becoming increasingly dependent on technology to live their everyday lives. Technology, a subset of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), is an enormous part of the typical American day. STEM is everywhere: all bridges were designed by engineers, a pill taken daily was created with science, a cell phone is technology, and the odds of winning the lottery is mathematics; and the prominence of technology in American lives is not going anywhere, as it seems every new invention and innovation are based upon STEM. Because of the importance of STEM to the American culture, it would seem that STEM education would be a priority. Yet, the United States is nowhere near the top of the ranks in the world in science …show more content…
The projected growth in STEM occupations is 17% from 2008 to 2018; however, the projected growth for all other jobs is only 9.8%, much lower than the increase of STEM jobs (Langdon et al. 1). The need for STEM workers in the future is increasing, and the education system of the United States needs to change to reflect the job market change. For America to succeed in the future, STEM is a necessity to teach and stress to the current children, who will soon become the people creating the cell phones and T.V.s that American’s are so fond of. And because the outlook for STEM careers is extremely promising, by preparing America 's children for STEM careers they will be preparing them for a higher quality of life as STEM workers earn 26% higher wages than non-STEM workers (Langdon et al. 1). To implement a better STEM education system will also provide American citizens a higher quality of life. So to not only provide America with a bright future but provide the American people with a bright future, the United States education system must place a larger urgency on STEM …show more content…
The amount of jobs that are opening up in the STEM fields is increasing more than the number of STEM graduates. Without enough STEM professionals, the progression of STEM cannot increase as much as it could ("STEM Crisis or STEM Surplus? Yes and Yes"). There are obvious problems that can occur if STEM jobs go unfilled such as there not being enough supply of certain products or services for the amount that is demanded. Therefore, the United States must make an initiative to fix the problem and inspire more Americans to pursue STEM careers. This can be done in part by better STEM education. The interest in STEM fields may increase and the unfilled jobs can become filled once again. But this problem cannot be fixed with the education system that is in place right now so there must be a change that makes STEM education better in America that way there will be no shortage of qualified candidates to fill the increasing STEM-related

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