Our universities are still top notch, but they’re just not producing enough STEM graduates. As of 2008, only three of the top 20-ranked universities were outside of the US


When looking at the top 50, only 14 are outside of our borders. But from 1985 until 2009, the share of STEM degrees at American Universities dropped,


Bachelor’s 24% to 18% Master’s 18% to 14%


“That doesn’t sound so bad” might be your first reaction;


but when you consider what the other shares look like, it’s not as optimistic.


Canada, Mexico, Germany, and other European companies graduate more STEM students as a share of all awarded degrees than America.


40% of all degrees awarded in China are in STEM; China and India’s STEM PhD degrees awarded are projected to grow by 68% between 2009 and 2015;


Brazil has seen a ten-fold increase in the number of STEM PhDs it has awarded in the last two years, looking to pass the US by 2016.


For that small percentage of US degrees awarded in STEM, a lot of them are to internationals who take those skills back to their home country after graduation. From 1977 to 2007, the number of Engineering PhDs awarded in the US to US students dropped from 56% to 29%; and in the physical sciences, they dropped from 76% to 43%. Overall STEM doctorates dropped from 75% to 50% of domestic recipients between 1985 and 2006. In 2007, the top five sources of international recipients in US STEM degrees were China and India with the lion’s share, followed by South Korea, Taiwan, and Canada. Turkey, Thailand, Japan, Mexico, and Germany followed suit; and all five of the leading country recipients reported a decrease in definite intentions to stay in the US after graduation.


Women in the workplace In light of these findings, it appears the US needs


to find a ready talent pool to fill the STEM gap. If only there was some portion of the population that wasn’t yet heavily involved in STEM – a hardworking, brilliant, dedicated segment that’s just ripe for the picking to become the next scientists and engineers. What about women?


Women make up almost half of the total


workforce, yet they only make up about a quarter of the STEM workforce; and that figure drops even further if you look at STEM degree-holding women working in a STEM job, which is only 20% of the STEM workforce. Where are the other 5% of degree holders taking their STEM degrees? Apparently to education and healthcare. Women STEM majors are actually twice as likely as men to take their degrees into education or healthcare.


There are an increasing percentage of women


entering STEM fields overall, although there’s a slow trickle-off of gender share in graduate and post- graduate studies. As of 2008, women earned 50% of STEM bachelor’s degrees, 46% of master’s degrees, and 41% of PhDs. In fact, STEM PhD degrees were up overall in 2008 by 1.9% from the year prior simply because of more women enrolling in STEM doctoral programs. What’s happening though – what happened in their youth to inspire them towards, or drive them away from, these high- earning, cutting-edge fields?


There must be a method, a destination, which can inspire lifelong STEM passion...


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