What is STEAM?
STEAM stands for: Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Math. People must realize that the A in Arts stands for fine arts as well as Digital Media. Our country faces tremendous competition for talented people who are experienced and trained in these areas. STEAM occupations represent the fastest growing in all the major industries. There is far more demand than supply of qualified people to assume these careers.
The Future of Education
With the huge emphasis on maintaining our global leadership in Technology, we need to ensure that our youth and communities are well trained in STEAM areas. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in STEAM occupations is projected to grow twice as fast as all other occupations. The U.S. needs to educate, train and hire our children and family members to take on promising and rewarding careers in disruptive new technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Virtual/Augmented Reality, BioInformatics, Cybersecurity, Genomics, Robotics, Quantum Computingand more. There are projections of severe shortages of qualified people to take STEAM positions i.e. 2.7 million Data Science positions available in 2023 and not enough people to fill those positions.
The Need for Diversity
Current statistics show that of all tech jobs in the U.S. only 5% are held by Latinos, 8% by African Americans, 12% by Women and 15% by Asians. The majority of the growth and lucrative careers in technology are not held by multicultural employees.
In contrast, the combined multicultural communities and women population represent the majority and fastest growing consumers in our nation. These changing demographic and consumer needs impacts the new products and services that need to be produced and sold. Companies will only remain competitive by creating products and services that reflect the needs of these multicultural communities. They must hire, train and promote employees and managers who are representative and understand the needs of these communities. If they do not, they will lose market share and become irrelevant. Companies who hire multicultural employees will thrive and take over market leadership positions globally.
The demographics transition to Millennials and GenZ consumers has tremendous impact on the products they demand and purchase. Layering on the specific needs of different multicultural communities makes marketing extremely difficult to create profitable products. In addition, to address GenZ technological competence, companies must create products and services deploying the newest technology and social media platforms.
Companies who continue to treat Diversity as a “nice to have" and employ “token” efforts will pay the price and become footnotes in history. Companies that understand the changing market demographics, adapt their corporate strategies, employ and promote multicultural and women employees will become the next market leaders in the global markets.
Diversity is not an option
It is a critical reason for surviving and thriving in today’s global economies. STEAM and technology industries are hugely impacted by this shift. There has never been a more urgent need to train, hire and promote multicultural employees for continuing our nation’s leadership in developing industry leading technology, products and services.
The truth is in the Numbers:
A report from the U.S. Congressional Joint Economic Council stated that the current STEAM workforce is falling short of demand in STEAM occupations.
According to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science & Technology:
“The U.S. would need to increase its yearly production of undergraduate STEAM degrees by 34% over current rates to match demand forecast for STEAM professionals.”
The National Academics “Rising Above Gathering Storm” called for improvements in
K-12 education in Science and Math.
Computer/information technology and engineering are predicted by the talent recruiters to be the two highest growth jobs at their companies 10 years from now for both two- and four-year STEAM degree holders.