Working with Data

University of Massachusetts > STEM > Working with Data

Any successful legislative and policy initiative, and especially one to win the hearts and minds of community leaders, has to be underpinned by reliable data. The planning process to support major overhaul of curricula related to STEM should involve sources of data that help leaders establish baselines, set goals and develop strategies and tactics to achieve them. Educators especially will be interested in data that compare Massachusetts' status with other states and the region to inform goal setting. Goal setting should involve a "stretch" but generally target achievable goals within a certain time frame.

What SAT takers tell us about the pipeline problem: A starting point is the indication of interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by SAT test takers. In 1999, 26% of Massachusetts test takers indicated interest in a STEM college major. By 2003-04, this dropped to 19% and has been there since. Even in a majority of the high MCAS mathematics performance high schools, the STEM interest rate was below the state average.

To get back to 26% by 2010, a goal established at STEM Summit III, Massachusetts needs to add approximately 4,000 students over and above 11,900 students who indicated STEM interest in 2006. This is out of a projected total number of 70,000 seniors graduating from both public and private schools in 2010.

Culture and capacity factors:  Massachusetts has capacity and cultural challenges, both of which point to opportunities for improvement. The SAT college major plan data indicate that there are many high school students who aspire to enter STEM fields of study. However, many of these students have not had a strong enough mathematics and science preparation to be successful in these majors. For these students the goal is to improve their capacity with better academic preparation at the PK-12 and, if necessary, community college levels.

There is a cultural challenge in most of the high MCAS mathematics performance high schools, where the pattern is that if a college-bound student is undecided, he or she is often advised to major in liberal arts and to defer professional education until graduate school. The problem is that if a student is "good" in mathematics and science and does not pursue a STEM major at the undergraduate level, it is very difficulty for her or him to do so later.

With respect to gender, Massachusetts reflects the national trends with about 58% of young adults in college comprised of women. However, with respect o student plans to major in STEM fields of study, there are some differences.

Nationally, in 2006, of the students interested in majoring in biological sciences, 64% were women while in Massachusetts it was 63%. In health and related services, the comparable percentages were 75% nationally and 80% in Massachusetts. However, the imbalance of men and women appears most dramatically in computer science/information technology and engineering. Nationally, only 12% of the students choosing computer science/IT were women while in Massachusetts this was 9%. In engineering the comparable percentages were 15% nationally and 13% in Massachusetts. These patterns are out of line with our workforce needs as a "high tech" state.

We must offer educators and district leaders different ways to think about helping students to be successful in these fields. As one example, in response to a very low interest by students planning to major in engineering (e.g., 11 of 440 SAT test takers in 2006), a local high school initiated an engineering course as a senior year elective and drew 26 students. The course has been so successful that 65 students are anticipated for next year. Twenty-three of these students are girls and the school plans to run a second section. In the right setting, an initiative like this can dramatically change the profile of STEM-interested students and the prospects of increasing graduates to go into STEM fields.

Massachusetts must be a player: It is critical for Massachusetts to be a player in emerging technology and associated product development. Consequently, understanding demand per se is much less important than setting the stage for the state to supply talented, prepared young people to enter the STEM fields. Not being prepared means that innovative companies will choose to locate elsewhere. Political and industry CEOs know that the venture capital industry follows the talent. In addition, state leaders know that the successful continuous supply of talent to health and allied health services is a local employment issue. And preparedness is linked to high quality mathematics and science teachers in local schools. Therefore, an important facet of a collaborative effort is obvious: the planting and harvesting of a growing field of capable local high school graduates for the local STEM talent pool. This simply makes good economic sense.

A funding proposal:  In thinking about a funding stream for STEM, it is necessary to recapitalize the STEM pipeline fund ($6 ½ million to date has been appropriated by the legislature). The long-term plan estimates are that another $12 million ($4 million over each of the next three years) is needed. A bond bill for technology and science infrastructure is also key to updating the outmoded equipment in the schools. With a new administration in place, and given Governor Patrick's recent proposal of $1B for life sciences, there is an immediate opportunity to bring fresh minds and perspectives to this question.

Employers as well are an important piece of the puzzle. Their buy-in and participation are urgently needed. Every constituency - parents, educators, government leaders - needs to be educated about this issue and, perhaps most importantly, about what they can do to be successful in enlarging the pipeline of talented and prepared STEM graduates.

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