About STEM

STEM = Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics

In 2001, Judith A. Ramaley, a former director of the National Science Foundation’s education and human-resources division was credited by many educators with being the first person to brand science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum as STEM. It was swiftly adopted by numerous institutions of higher education as well as the scientific communities as an important focus for education policy and curriculum development.

Put simply, STEM is important because historically, a healthy U.S. economy has been driven largely by homegrown innovation in STEM fields (for example, the light bulb, the automobile, the personal computer etc.). A healthy economy creates a thriving population and traditionally, prosperity and peace are tightly linked benefits that lead to happy and healthy communities.

In recent years however, studies of U.S. educational performance in STEM disciplines compared with the leading world economies has shown a rather dramatic decrease in our output of STEM post secondary graduates while at the same time nearly all of the other leading economies have shown increases in their number of STEM graduates. There is great concern that if we do not rapidly repopulate our institutions of higher education with U.S. STEM students and graduates we are creating a future of downward mobility that will undermine the U.S. prospects for growth and prosperity for years to come.

In response to this crisis, virtually all leading professional and governmental organizations in the STEM fields have joined together to collaborate on how best to:

• Improve the delivery of STEM education to all of our K-16 students
• Improve teacher training, recruitment and retention
• Increase the number of students choosing STEM fields in post secondary education and graduating with advanced degrees in STEM fields