STEM careers throughout the economy are undergoing change, new study says

 

POSTED ON Jul 15, 2021

 

Far more jobs require science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills and knowledge, than the definition of STEM which is based on occupational titles implies–suggesting jobs are indeed STEMified, finds a new study published by two researchers at the University of California San Diego. While only 40% of STEM graduates work in traditional STEM occupations, 70% continue to use STEM skills on the job.

The paper titled “Beyond the ‘STEM pipeline’: Expertise, careers, and lifelong learning,” is by sociologists John D. Skrentny and Kevin Lewis.

The UC San Diego researchers say understanding STEM education and careers can be improved by understanding the continuation of STEM training into STEM careers; measurement of which jobs should be considered “in” or “out”; and the  “purpose” of the pipeline and whether “leakage” is a problem or denotes failure.

Other findings in the paper include:

• More than half of STEM graduates who have moved into STEM work continue skills-related training. Moreover, learning does not stop at any endpoint.
• Scholars and policymakers should consider STEM education as a lifelong phenomenon and not only a degree-oriented education.
• Preschool, K-12, college, and graduate school experiences are important parts of STEM training. But work is another stage of learning—one that STEM workers take on for life.
• Over 80% of engineering majors use STEM skills in their work, compared to less than 60% of biology/life sciences majors.
• Persistence is a bigger problem for women than for racial and ethnic minorities.
• Women face significant pushes or pull out of STEM at high rates. Since STEM expertise jobs are often managerial, Black Americans and Asian Americans may face obstacles moving to the managerial track.
• STEM careers throughout the economy are undergoing change as old, non-STEM jobs like “animator” are replaced with new STEM jobs like “image-mastering engineering”.
• Even non-STEM jobs may be undergoing (a lighter version of) STEMi-fication.
• STEM expertise question prompts respondents to think about a degree in math, computer science, or engineering while using the vaguer term “natural sciences” as a catch-all for life sciences, chemistry, physics, and others.