Want to drive more students into science and technology? Get ’em early.
That’s according to a new Microsoft-sponsored study released this month. Nearly 80 percent of college students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering or math say they decided to do so in high school or earlier. Meanwhile, just over twenty percent of students surveyed said they had made their decision by as early as middle school.
The survey comes amid growing concern among public officials and business leaders that the United States is lagging behind when it comes to filling key jobs in innovation. Demand for STEM workers has remained stable, and at times grown, in recent years despite the economy’s overall struggles.
Data from the Microsoft surveys confirm that students pursuing STEM study benefited from strong, early role models. Nearly two-thirds of responding college students credited a teacher or class with getting them interested in STEM subjects, and female respondents were especially likely, at 68 percent, to think so.
By an eight-percent margin, women were also more apt to say that K-12 schools ought to consider STEM education a top priority compared to men.
The poll results are somewhat surprising considering how few women who graduate with STEM degrees go on to pursue STEM careers. In a U.S. Department of Commerce report issued last month, only 26 percent of women with STEM degrees will end up using it.
The Commerce report was the second in a series analyzing the United States’s STEM deficit. The latest report shows that blacks and Latinos remain underrepresented in STEM fields even though STEM workers overall earn more than their non-STEM counterparts — a disparity that’s even more pronounced for minorities.
In an effort to boost female involvement in the sciences, the White House on Monday announced a 10-year plan by the National Science Foundation allowing researchers to suspend their grants temporarily to focus on childcare or other family obligations.
With the 2012 presidential campaign season heating up, expect education and innovation to become a key topic of debate, particularly as the White House tries to push a $447 billion jobs package through Congress.
