Robert N. Charette
Historians still argue over the exact date, but the tipping point may have happened late Monday afternoon on October 18, 2023. On that day, America lost the STEM War.
After years of warnings from business leaders
and politicians about the “intellectual dis
armament” (Gates, 2011) of the nation caused by
the lack of “reverence for science and math and
technology and learning” (White House, 2009), the
United States finally fell hopelessly behind other
nations in the “rapid and persistent worldwide
advance of education, knowledge, innovation,
investment, and industrial infrastructure” (Institute
of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, &
National Academy of Engineering, 2010, p. x).
As a result, the nation quickly saw its “privileged
position” in the world erode (Institute of Med
icine, National Academy of Sciences, & National
Academy of Engineering, 2005, p. 13) and faced
the end of its “high quality of life” (p. 1).
Not if you believe the almost daily dose of mass
History of the “Crisis”
media stories, journal articles, and industry white
papers alleging that the United States faces a STEM
crisis. But the tale of seemingly insurmountable
STEM woes is not new; it has been regularly
repeated over the past 75 years. The myth of a
science and engineering workforce crisis not only
risks steering students in the wrong direction for
the wrong reasons, but also undermines legitimate
efforts to create a STEMliterate society.
The current installment of the STEM crisis nar
rative originated in the early 2000s with a slew of
reports warning of an imminent shortfall of skilled
workers. The National Association of Manufac
turers (2001), for instance, asserted that unless U.S.
education changed significantly, the country was
facing a shortage of 5. 3 million skilled workers by
2010 and 14 million skilled workers by 2015.
In 2005, a highly influential, 592page report
called Rising Above the Gathering Storm was pub
lished by the Institute of Medicine, National
STEM Sense &
Let’s stop hyperventilating about STEM worker shortages
and focus our efforts on improving overall STEM literacy.