Why STEM Education? (page 2)

Why STEM Education?

New Ways of Thinking

* 13% of today's workforce is over 55 and by 2020 60% will be over 55.

* Over 70 million baby boomers will retire and they will be replaced by only 48 million workers.

* The need for science, engineering and technical training will increase by 51% this year.

* If the trend continues, by 2010 more than 90% of all scientists and engineers in the world will live in Asia.

* The top 10 most in demand jobs did not exist in 2004.

* India has more honor students than we have students in America.

* Fewer than 15% of high school students in the United States have an adequate skill base in science and math to pursue scientific and technical degrees.

* More than 50% of the engineering degrees in the US are awarded to foreign nationals.

New Job Skills

* 60% of all new jobs in the 21st century will require skills possessed by only 20% of the current United States workforce.

* 21st century workplace and technical skills have become more important than land and buildings.

Innovation

* Four of the 10 fastest growing industries and occupations from 2002-2012 are expected to be high tech.

* Quality Education is critical to the US's competitive placement in leading the world in innovation.

Global Citizenship

* Students have to compete globally, be more innovative, more inventive, and more efficient.

* A significant portion of our workforce finds itself in direct competition for jobs with lower-wage workers around the globe.

* Leading edge scientific and engineering work is being accomplished in many parts of the world.

* Thanks to globalization, driven by modern communication and other advances, workers in virtually every sector must now face competitors who live just a mouse-click away in Ireland, Finland, China, India and dozens of other nations whose economies are growing.

* Building skills in STEM disciplines, helps America and Idaho's students compete in the global workforce.