Why STEM?

STEM is the future.

STEM learning is an economic imperative. Experts say that technological innovation accounted for almost half of U.S. economic growth over the past 50 years, and almost all of the 30 fastest-growing occupations in the next decade will require at least some background in STEM.

Yet as many STEMtistics^SM show, our country is falling behind in science, technology, engineering and mathematics:

• In 2009, just 34 percent of U.S. 8^th graders were rated proficient or higher in a national math assessment, and more than one in four scored below the basic level.
• In an international exam given to 15 year olds in 2009, U.S. high school students ranked significantly behind 12 industrialized nations in science and 17 in math. Students in only 4 industrialized nations scored lower in math.
• Only 45 percent of U.S. high school graduates in 2011 were ready for college work in math and 30 percent were ready in science. (Data sources)

For more, research and data that guides the STEM conversation, check STEMtistics^SM. STEM literacy has a profound and growing impact on our day-to-day lives. It helps us make critical decisions about our health care, our finances and our retirement. It illuminates the ever more complex issues that govern the future of our democracy, and it reveals to us the beauty and power of the world we inhabit.

A literate nation not only reads. It computes, investigates and innovates.