Commerce, Education, Federal, State, Labor, Media, Internet

STEM: Good Jobs Now and for the Future

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Research Findings

As global competition and market pressures continue to intensify, many U.S. business leaders, educators and policymakers are focused on creating a workforce that will foster innovation and maintain the nation’s traditional position as the world leader in the sciences. To that end, the government and private sector alike are interested in measuring the supply and demand of jobs and labor within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

In 2011, the U.S. Department of Commerce released a report, “STEM: Good Jobs Now and for the Future” (PDF), that used information on 50 separate STEM occupations and education data from the 2009 American Community Survey to assess the state of STEM-based industries within America today.

Key points in the report include:

  • “In 2010, there were 7.6 million STEM workers in the United States, representing about 1 in 18 workers.”
  • “Over the past 10 years, growth in STEM jobs was three times as fast as growth in non-STEM jobs.” Future projections suggest that “STEM occupations [will] grow by 17.0 percent from 2008 to 2018, compared to 9.8 percent growth for non-STEM occupations.”
  • “The unemployment rate for STEM workers rose from 1.8% in 2007 to 5.5% in 2009 before easing to 5.3% in 2010. The unemployment rate for non-STEM workers rose from 4.8% in 2007 to 9.5% in 2009 and then continued to increase to almost 10% in 2010.”
  • Though more than two-thirds of STEM workers have a bachelor’s degree or more in terms of educational attainment, there are nevertheless opportunities for those with less than a 4-year degree: “nearly one-quarter (23 percent) have completed an associate degree or at least some college, and 9 percent have a high school diploma or less. So while it is certainly true that the majority of STEM workers tend to have at least a bachelor’s degree, opportunities also exist for STEM workers with lower education levels.”
  • “STEM workers command higher wages, earning 26% more than their non-STEM counterparts.” The difference is most pronounced among workers with high school diplomas or lower education levels; in this population STEM jobs pay on average 59.6% higher than non-STEM jobs.

The report’s concluded that “STEM jobs should also be highly desirable to American workers. Regardless of educational attainment, entering a STEM profession is associated with higher earnings and reduced joblessness.”

Tags: economy, technology, science, employment, higher education


By | August 8, 2011

Teaching Notes

Note to instructor: The suggested assignments are designed for flexibility. They can be used in whole or part and can be adapted to a particular task -- for example, the newswriting assignments could be applied to the writing of the headline, the lead, the nut graph or the full story. Material from the assignments could also be combined with other material, for example, in the writing of a background, feature or local-angle story.

Analysis assignments

Read the U.S. Department of Commerce report "STEM: Good Jobs Now and for the Future" (PDF).

  1. Summarize the study in fewer than 40 words.
  2. Express the study's key term(s) in language a lay audience can understand.
  3. Evaluate the study's limitations. (For example: Do the results conflict with those of other reliable studies? Are there weaknesses in the study's data or research design?)

Read the issue-related Wired article "Smart Jobs: The Economic Rebound -- It’s Not What You Think."

  1. Use insights from the report and the article to look at businesses and training programs in your local area. Write an analysis piece or blog synthesizing these two documents and looking at how these new patterns, trends and projections are playing out in your state, city or town.

Newswriting assignments

  1. Write a lead (or headline or nut graph) based on the study.
  2. Spend 60 minutes exploring the issue by accessing sources of information other than the study. Write a lead (or headline or nut graph) based on the study but informed by the new information. Does the new information significantly change what one would write based on the study alone?
  3. Interview two sources with a stake in or knowledge of the issue. Be prepared to provide them with a short summary of the study in order to get their response to it. Write a 400-word article about the study incorporating material from the interviews.
  4. Spend additional time exploring the issue and then write a 1,200-word background article, focusing on major aspects of the issue.

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