Deborah LevineWhen rocket scientist Dr. Aprille Joy Ericsson came to Chattanooga, it wasn’t simply to extol the work of NASA and space exploration. Her goal was to boost the aspirations of those currently underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Ericsson was the first African-American female to receive a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, the aerospace option, from Howard University. Who wouldn’t be inspired hearing about aerospace, robotics and Earth science at the NASA Goddard Flight Center? Dalewood Middle School, Tech Town and Bessie Smith Cultural Center were fortunate to host her presentations.
Why would Ericsson’s motivational effort be sponsored by Tina Player and the Kids Today-Scholars Tomorrow project of The World’s Church of the Living God? Look at the numbers. They’re challenging, bordering on scary and require every effort we can muster to reverse. The statistics are easy to find. They’re on STEM education sites, including changetheequation.org and girlswhocode.org and on national projects as well as sources such as National Math and Science Initiative and the National Center for Women & Information Technology. Even the U.S. Department of Labor provides them.
The good news is that between 2014 and 2024, the number of STEM jobs will grow 17 percent, as compared with 12 percent for non-STEM jobs. By 2020, there will be an estimated 1.4 million computer-specialist job openings. The average hourly pay for these jobs can fuel our economic engine: $37.44 compared to $18.68 for all other types of jobs. But here’s the problem: Students in the U.S. finish 27th in math and 20th in science out of 34 countries. The bad news is that just over a third of all high school grads are ready to take a college-level science course.
What is happening here? Americans love science and technology. We flock to see “Star Wars.” Who hasn’t said, “May the Force be with you” in their lifetime? Yet, even for successful high school graduates, the reality can be dark. The growth of STEM jobs is outpacing the number of qualified university graduates. Why is the Force hiding from us?