Battling Inequality in STEM Education
The importance of STEM education extends far beyond school walls. The right kind of STEM education not only has the power to boost academic performance, but can also improve problem solving and critical thinking skills, boost students’ confidence, and open doors to higher-paying future careers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering (STEM) will increase to over 9 million by 2022 and almost all of the fastest growing jobs require a strong STEM background. People who work in STEM fields earn an average of 26% more and are more likely to be employed than their non-STEM counterparts. Perhaps most importantly, by demonstrating how information learned in school applies to directly to the real world, STEM can open minds that have been closed by years of learning through rote memorization.
However, most students sit bored in their science and math classrooms, unable and unwilling to learn the ways that they’re being taught.
Only a few schools have the resources to pay for the hands-on activities that are most effective at engaging students in STEM or recruit experienced and knowledgeable math and science teachers. This unequal access to high-quality STEM education perpetuates established racial, socioeconomic, and gender inequalities in both schools and career fields.
Over half of 12th graders of high socioeconomic classes are enrolled in higher math classes, compared to less than a quarter of seniors of low socioeconomic class. Thirty-three percent of white students were deemed proficient or above on the National Assessment of Educational Progress science test, but only 6% of black students and 11% of Hispanic students scored as high. Across all ethnicities, males scored higher than female students.
Even at my high school, where students, teachers, and administrators constantly fight for racial and gender equality, advanced math and science classes have at least five boys to every girl and almost no minority students. STEM-focused clubs and activities are primarily led by male students and have few participating girls.
Race, income, or gender shouldn’t be the determining factors in whether students receive strong STEM education or not.
Equality in STEM can quickly translate to equality in other fields — STEM can lift students out of the poverty cycle through higher-paying jobs and girls with STEM backgrounds can chip away at persistent gender stereotypes. Equal access to STEM education remains elusive, but has the power to level the playing field now and throughout the rest of students’ lives.