Change the Equation Blog

In our 2012 Vital Signs, we take a close look at the chances that women and young girls have in STEM. It's an ongoing issue of concern -- 40 years after Title IX passed, there are still sometimes vast gender discrepancies in STEM fields.

We looked most closely at the participation of women in K-12 and higher-ed STEM. In higher ed, what we found is that, generally, most states give about 30 percent of awards to female students. South Carolina came up on top, with almost 40 percent of STEM awards going to women. What was troubling on the higher-ed plane, though, is that while the number of STEM degrees in general has made steady growth in the last 10 years, the increase in the percentage of women attaining STEM awards is generally in the single digits. In only one state, Arizona, did the percentage more than double (it should be noted that Nevada made strong gains too).

The discrepancies crystllize trends that begin to emerge in K-12. On NAEP exams girls generally score slightly under male peers, and in some states, the differences are quite large. In most states, girls out-enroll and out-perform boys on AP math and science exams.

What does this mean? Most obviously, that half the population is not being as engaged in STEM as they theoretically could be, weakening the hiring and talent pools. We need to tap into that pool to make the gains that we as a country want to make. 

The conversation on women and STEM seems to be growing more prominent -- particularly for young girls. Several companies have launched toys and games targeting young women to stimulate girls' interest and to tell them it's not just for boys. But these Vital Signs show that we still have a long way to go. 

One of the biggest concerns in U.S. education today is whether our students are graduating from high school "ready" for college and career. To be ready, obviously, students need to take and understand advanced math and science coursework. But a significant portion of students, our Vital Signs report found, don't even get the chance to take those courses.

Take math like Algebra II, for instance. The course is considered necessary for college. But while many schools offer it, 20 percent of schools don't -- meaning 20 percent of students are already at a huge disadvantage if they want to continue their educations. Thirty-seven percent of school don't offer physics. Calculus is only offered at half the schools in the United States; in some states, only one in four schools offers the course. 

The inequality is not created equal, either: While 25 percent of white students attend schools that don't offer calculus -- which is still a significant portion -- students of color are much more likely to attend schools that don't offer the course. Thirty-five percent of black students, 30 percent of Hispanic students, and 44 percent of Native American students dont' get the chance to take calculus. 

What's this mean? Obviously, some students are more likely to be ready to college, and that advantage is determined by matters out of a student's control -- race, background, school. For the country, though, this also means that the demands on the workforce are likely to persist into the future. 

Interested in learning more, especially about how your state is doing? Check out our Vital Signs.

Check out our new 2012 STEM Vital Signs! After more than a year of collecting and analyzing data on STEM learning, we’re releasing 51 new reports that offer a critical look at STEM learning in every state and the District of Columbia. In collaboration with the American Institutes of Research, and with generous funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we’ve collected and analyzed data from a wide spectrum of sources, ranging from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to state departments of education to the College Board.

The Vital Signs reports are not meant to rank or shame states. Rather, as their name suggests, they aim to help states understand the overall health of the STEM learning enterprise and better act on what they learn. What we’ve collected paints a rich portrait of student performance but also the opportunities students have to learn. Much of the information we present, like data on high school students’ access to challenging math and science courses, or the cost and extent of college remediation in math, has not been published before.

That said, there are data we need but don’t yet have. We know precious little about what K-12 students are learning in technology and engineering, for example, or about what kinds of afterschool experiences they’re having in STEM. We’re also hard-pressed to find information on how many students are participating in excellent Career and Technical Education programs. Our new brief, "The Next Frontier for STEM Data," explores some of these issues.

But the data we do have contain often unacknowledged good news. Students have made gains in math in most states over the past decade, and in some states those gains have been substantial. Yet achievement gaps persist, and just as disturbing, so do opportunity gaps. In many states, students of color are more likely than white students to attend schools that do not even offer courses like physics or calculus. They are also less likely to have access to facilities like science labs or to math and science teachers who feel supported. Putting underprepared students through remediation in math costs states millions every year. Forty years after Title IX, women still lag behind men in the numbers of STEM degrees and certificates they earn.

Still, many states are moving ahead with bold reforms like common standards and tests. They’ve been raising the bar and preparing to support schools and teachers as they help students clear it. We sincerely hope that business leaders, educators, state leaders, and other STEM advocates can use the Vital Signs data to change the landscape of STEM education.

“When President Obama helped launch Change the Equation, he pointed to the critical role the business community can play in improving STEM education,” said John P. Holdren, President Obama’s science and technology advisor. “I applaud this coalition of over 100 CEOs for producing this Vital Signs report, which gives business leaders, parents, and others a 50-state-snapshot of the progress being made and work yet to be done to engage our students with rigorous math and science courses, access to hands-on projects, and excellent STEM teachers.”

India, home to one of the largest and fastest-growing student populations in the world, has decided to opt out of the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) examinations, according to the national government. The reason? They think their students just aren't ready for it.

PISA, administered by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, is given to 15-year-olds every three years and is designed to provide a standard point of comparison for educational systems (Some countries, including India, had regions with enough variance in the educational systems to essentially have two entries). India participated for the first time in the 2009 exam, testing students in two of its states, and had originally intended to expand the test nationally for the 2012 outing. However, India scored 72nd out of 73 systems in the last round -- topping only Kyrgyzstan -- and decided to opt out of the latest round. It's unclear whether they'll participate in 2015, the next time the test will be offered. The test covers reading, math and science, and in math, India's two states finished second and third to last, again only beating Kyrgyzstan.

While the India Times article expresses disappointment with India's showing in the last round, India's results are a baseline, and the United States would still do well to ensure its students are receiving high-quality educations. And unlike the United States, India's public-school system is still being established; to do so, the entire country is making heavy, purposeful investments in the school system.

As a recent report from the Center for American Progress points out, spending on education in India has quadrupled over the last 30 years, even though many of its students still face brutal poverty (most families earn only $1.25 a day). India is investing in an ambitious goal to provide early-childhood education to 38 million students. Another component of the country's strategic plan to improve education includes recruiting and training 1.5 million more elementary-school teachers in order to ensure that every primary-grade student has a strong educational foundation. While students now might not be as ready as their government would like, the chances that students taking the 2024 PISA will be ready are exponentially high.

Finally, although India's educational infrastructure and capacity is still being built, the country is already graduating five times as many high schoolers as the United States is. The government wants to have 40 million students in higher education by 2020, which will mean an additional 26 million seats. By 2020, India will be conferring four times as many bachelor's degrees than the United States. The sheer amount of human capital, especially considering the increasing rate at which that capital is being educated, has the potential to overwhelm U.S. graduates on a global market.

How did the U.S. rank? Out of OECD member nations (and remember, even within partner nations, different education systems within the nations were tested), the U.S. placed 25th out of 33. Many of the partner countries and regions outscored the U.S., as well. The U.S., however, spends more than all other countries, save for Luxembourg, on education.