Increasing the Number of STEM Graduates: Insights from the U.S. STEM Education & Modeling Project
Abstract
BHEF's Securing America's Leadership in STEM Initiative has broken new ground in addressing one of our nation's most critical challenges - increasing the number of students who are interested in and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, the so-called "STEM" fields. The Initiative, which identified as its goal the doubling of U.S. bachelor's degrees earned in STEM fields, produced the first simulation model of STEM education in the United States. The BHEF U.S. STEM Education Model (the Model), developed by Raytheon Company and donated to BHEF, has provided a number of powerful insights about the highest leverage points and potential strategies that can lead to increased numbers of students who are proficient in STEM fields, and who may pursue STEM careers. It has also pointed to the need for a comprehensive, national STEM education strategy that targets critical leakage points in the STEM education pipeline, and to the need for new, more sophisticated tools that can help guide policymakers and educators. This report provides insights from this multi-year effort.
