Success is not solely driven by what you know, but by how you can apply skills to real-world applications and problems. The problems facing us today deal heavily with technology, engineering and science… but as a society, we lack resources in these fields.
Recently, there has been an abundance of jobs created for employees equipped with STEM expertise due to rapid growth in the tech industry. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. It’s a hands-on curriculum, focused on preparing the workforce of tomorrow with the ability to program and engineer solutions for problems faced today.
The demand for employees with this skill set continues to rise, which sounds great, right? There's just one problem… the supply of qualified professionals is not equivalent to the high demand needed.
With our world shifting into high gear towards becoming completely digital, STEM careers are becoming prevalent in all facets and industries. At Vantage Agora, we take pride in providing STEM-based careers to help ensure our tech solutions enable clients to achieve and maintain a clear path towards success.
But, it’s not just tech providers searching for people to fill these positions. STEM has entangled itself into all industries - which is why it’s booming in the marketplace right now.
However, in recent times there have been difficulties finding qualified workers to fill the surplus of new jobs developing. US News reported that we are in a “STEM worker shortage”, which has reached a “crisis level”. The question then becomes, ‘How do we replenish our workforce with capable employees, suited for these positions?’ (Radu, Sintia, “STEM Worker Shortage at a Crisis, Survey Shows”).
To bridge the gap between supply and demand in the future, schools across the nation are introducing a comprehensive STEM education into their everyday curriculum.
By exposing children to these concepts early on, the likelihood of them pursuing a degree/career path in a STEM-related field skyrockets. If we want children to follow a future in STEM, it’s important we foster critical thinking skills and tech literacy into the curriculum - to gain exposure and spike interest from an early age.
It is clear that moving forward we are transforming into a highly- technical society, where STEM has the ability to prepare our future leaders to navigate, compute and solve the challenges that prevail.
IoT, AI, Blockchain and quantum computing are just a few of the many tech advancements prepared to take launch and create new, in-demand jobs of the future. In fact, there’s a, “predicted 1 million tech jobs to open by 2020 and 2 million cybersecurity jobs open also by 2020.”
STEM education will have a long-term impact on our society, the jobs and overall growth of our economy. So, it’s of great importance to support and encourage children to enjoy and take interest in tech-related fields. They are the ones who will empower change and become the next generation of trend-setters.
Sources:
Radu, Sintia. “STEM Worker Shortage at a Crisis, Survey Shows.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 23 Aug. 2018, www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2018-08-23/americans-think-they-have-a-shortage-of-stem-workers.
