Preparing A 21st Century Workforce For Science Engineering And Mathematics

In order for the United States to maintain the global leadership and competitiveness in science and technology that are critical to achieving national goals, we must invest in research, encourage innovation, and grow a strong and talented science and technology workforce. Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation explores the role of diversity in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce and its value in keeping America innovative and competitive. According to the book, the U.S. labor market is projected to grow faster in science and engineering than in any other sector in the coming years, making minority participation in STEM education at all levels a national priority. Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation analyzes the rate of change and the challenges the nation currently faces in developing a strong and diverse workforce. Although minorities are the fastest growing segment of the population, they are underrepresented in the fields of science and engineering. Historically, there has been a strong connection between increasing educational attainment in the United States and the growth in and global leadership of the economy. Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation suggests that the federal government, industry, and post-secondary institutions work collaboratively with K-12 schools and school systems to increase minority access to and demand for post-secondary STEM education and technical training. The book also identifies best practices and offers a comprehensive road map for increasing involvement of underrepresented minorities and improving the quality of their education. It offers recommendations that focus on academic and social support, institutional roles, teacher preparation, affordability and program development.

The future competitiveness of the United States in an increasingly interconnected global economy depends on the nation fostering a workforce with strong capabilities and skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). STEM knowledge and skills enable both individual opportunity and national competitiveness, and the nation needs to develop ways of ensuring access to high-quality education and training experiences for all students at all levels and for all workers at all career stages. The National Science Foundation (NSF) holds a primary responsibility for overseeing the federal government's efforts to foster the creation of a STEM-capable workforce. As part of its efforts in this endeavor, NSF's Directorate on Education and Human Resources asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a workshop that would contribute to NSF's preparation of a theoretical and evidence-based STEM Workforce Development R&D Core Framework. Participants discussed research themes, identified gaps and emerging research opportunities, and recommended refinements in the goals of the framework. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Involving two or more academic subjects, interdisciplinary studies aim to blend together broad perspectives, knowledge, skills, and epistemology in an educational setting. By focusing on topics or questions too broad for a single discipline to cover, these studies strive to draw connections between seemingly different fields. Cases on Interdisciplinary Research Trends in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: Studies on Urban Classrooms presents research and information on implementing and sustaining interdisciplinary studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics for students and classrooms in an urban setting. This collection of research acts as a guide for researchers and professionals interested in improving learning outcomes for their students.

Scientific and technological advances and innovations are critical to the economic performance of developed countries and the standard of living of the citizens. This book discusses the nature and size of the problem and shows why increasing the number of women and minorities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics industries is vital.

Strengthen workforce and employee engagement in today’s “new normal” organizational environment! Today’s workforces, today’s companies, and today’s business environments have all changed radically: even if the economy improves, companies will stay lean, and continue to rely heavily on contingent workforces. Engagement is more crucial than ever, but old approaches to achieving it simply no longer work. In Practices for Engaging the 21st Century Workforce, Bill Castellano presents a comprehensive, innovative model of engagement that responds to today’s new realities, and helps you anticipate tomorrow’s. Drawing on 25+ years as a pioneering HR innovator, practitioner, and researcher, Castellano offers a crystal-clear definition of engagement, identifies its real drivers, and specifies achievable strategic outcomes of engagement. He presents powerful new research on how to engage today’s multidimensional and changing workforce, in an environment that’s as complex as today’s workers are. You’ll learn how to develop adaptable organizational structures and multidimensional HR management systems tailored to the needs of today’s workforces: systems that not only strengthen engagement but also deliver the business performance benefits promised by greater engagement. Throughout, Castellano supports his insights with profiles and case studies from many of the world’s leading organizations, including IBM, Ernst & Young, Google, SAS, Whole Foods, American Express, Colgate-Palmolive, and ARDEC (US Military R&D Center). An indispensable resource for every HR leader, strategist, practitioner, and student.

The U.S. system of graduate education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has served the nation and its science and engineering enterprise extremely well. Over the course of their education, graduate students become involved in advancing the frontiers of discovery, as well as in making significant contributions to the growth of the U.S. economy, its national security, and the health and well-being of its people. However, continuous, dramatic innovations in research methods and technologies, changes in the nature and availability of work, shifts in demographics, and expansions in the scope of occupations needing STEM expertise raise questions about how well the current STEM graduate education system is meeting the full array of 21st century needs. Indeed, recent surveys of employers and graduates and studies of graduate education suggest that many graduate programs do not adequately prepare students to translate their knowledge into impact in multiple careers. Graduate STEM Education for the 21st Century examines the current state of U.S. graduate STEM education. This report explores how the system might best respond to ongoing developments in the conduct of research on evidence-based teaching practices and in the needs and interests of its students and the broader society it seeks to serve. This will be an essential resource for the primary stakeholders in the U.S. STEM enterprise, including federal and state policymakers, public and private funders, institutions of higher education, their administrators and faculty, leaders in business and industry, and the students the system is intended to educate.