STEM Education

Sydney Robinson

Suncoast Delegation

A recent controversial issue has arisen regarding STEM Education and what will become of it with a quickly decreasing workforce. There are many areas to point fingers at as the root origin of this, but one of the gravest causes could easily be attributed to the imbalance between the numbers of females and males entering fields dealing with STEM Education.

         Statistically, from 2007 to 2008, women composed a very small amount of the degrees being granted in fields of engineering and computer-information science. They made up 19% and 14%, respectively.

         The science, technology, engineering and math workforce is crucial to America’s innovation and future in terms of global competitiveness. However, women in many ways are vastly underrepresented in STEM jobs and receiving STEM education, despite them composing nearly half of the U.S. workforce and half of the individuals receiving college degrees. It is therefore pertinent that the gender gap is decreased to impose a message of encouragement for females to pursue STEM jobs and education.

Greater Orlando delegate, Jake LaRochelle, is one who is also a supporter of decreasing the gender gap. His bill for the 2015 State Assembly aims to tackle this exact problem by proposing a grant program that will offer funding for schools and organizations that promote STEM education in primary and secondary schooling. His hopes are that this promotion for STEM education from an early age will help increase the number of females entering the workforce later in life.

         Additionally, Greater Orlando delegate, Taylor Roberts, is also addressing this concern. Her bill will create competitions that will award grants to higher education institutions that successfully establish the most innovative program that helps solve the issue of disproportionately low amount of women in STEM fields.

         The increasing issue of underrepresented women involved in STEM education can only only contributes to the decreasing number of individuals involved in the STEM workforce. However, this issue can easily be solved by increasing the importance and encouragement of these fields on all levels of education. From this, it is hopeful that one-day women may make up an equal representation of the STEM workforce, but neglecting this issue will only cause a graver imbalance.