Science Centers are STEM Incubators The case for science centers goes well beyond inspiring America’s future Creative Class, a


segment of the population, identified by researcher Richard Florida, made up of 40 million scientists, engineers, educators, programmers, and more who control roughly 70% of America’s discretionary income. It’s also about the tremendous impact science centers can have on their cities.


503 CITIES


120 SCIENCE CENTERS MORE THAN 100 METRICS


This year we took a look at more than 120 US science centers, 503 cities, and more than 100 metrics that evaluate cities, from crime to corruption, green space to green scores. After running them through correlations and analyses, it’s pretty clear – cities with great science centers are just plain better. Our research can’t prove causality – it’s a chicken and the egg problem.


We don’t know if great cities help make great science centers, or if great science centers help make great cities. But we do understand the profile of what kind of urban environments are currently harboring successful science centers.


HERE’S WHAT WE FOUND


According to Fast Company’s data, cities with science centers typically rank higher on their intelligent economy, governance, mobility, and education


Cities which rank higher in these four categories have better ranked universities (US News),


Are more attractive destination cities (U-Haul International),


And rank higher on Mercer’s Quality of Life.


When you directly compare the scores of cities with science centers to those without, the differences are stark. Here are the top differences between these two types of cities:


Cities Without Science Centers...


Rank 31% lower on


innovation, -Business Insider Have 38%


fewer Fortune 500 companies,


-CNN Money


Are 45% less likely to be adopting the Next Generation Science Standards


Rank 30% lower as a


“Best City to Live in” -Businessweek


Have 58%


fewer colleges, -Businessweek


Have 29% lower job growth


-Kiplinger


We’re not sure we can make the case any more clear.


Countless reports show that our country is falling behind in technological leadership and innovation, causing our economy and our talent to deteriorate in a myriad of ways. We need to make STEM education incredible again – exciting, thrilling, attractive, and fun, and science centers serve as one of the best potential vehicles to accomplish that mission. By inspiring younger generations through these institutions, and drawing more young women into these fields, we get back on the leaderboard of the world’s progress. And science centers aren’t just catalysts for career inspiration:


They May Just Save Your City, Too.


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