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Fortune Magazine Features Business-Higher Education Forum in STEM Challenge Article
Questions why so few students pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degrees
Contact: Pamela Lessard 202-367-1284, Alex Sittig 202-367-2393
Washington, DC (June 8, 2010) — Fortune magazine, in an article entitled, “Where are all the science majors?,” features the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) as an organization uniquely positioned to help increase the number of STEM college graduates in the United States.
The article highlights the importance of STEM as a driver of the U.S. innovation economy, juxtaposed by the fact that only 17 percent of high school seniors are both interested in STEM majors and have attained math proficiency.
BHEF, through its Securing America’s Leadership in STEM Initiative, is working to increase the number of STEM college graduates by strengthening the math and science teaching workforce and pursuing promising strategies to strengthen the education pipeline that leads to STEM careers. BHEF has authored, “An American Imperative: Transforming the Recruitment, Retention, and Renewal of Our Nation’s Mathematics and Science Teaching Workforce,” which lays out a comprehensive plan for creating a robust, world-class teaching workforce.
In addition, BHEF provides in an open-source environment the first-ever simulation and modeling tool for the U.S. STEM education system, the BHEF U.S. STEM Education Model, developed by Raytheon Company, which enables researchers, policymakers, and educators to explore scenarios that can strengthen education and workforce outcomes. Learn more at www.stemnetwork.org.
The Fortune article highlights this unique tool: “BHEF has attempted to think anew about old assumptions, like the belief that smaller class size boosts student achievement. Working with BHEF, Raytheon systems engineers tried to gauge the effects of raising pay on attracting teacher talent; the analysis showed it might just result in higher pay across competing professions. Smaller classes, for example, may simply mean less qualified teachers get hired because of inadequate supply.”
After releasing the model into open source in July 2009, BHEF—with partners Raytheon and The Ohio State University—advanced its STEM Research and Modeling Network (SRMN) to support the modeling effort. The SRMN brings together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, corporations and funders, all of whom share the goal of using simulation modeling and similar tools to identify ways that student interest, participation and achievement in the STEM fields can be strengthened.
“Current forecasts of student degree attainment in the United States suggest that the U.S. will not produce enough STEM graduates at the two- or four-year college level to meet employer demand. The development of this model and the accompanying SRMN represent the mobilization of a community committed to aggressively addressing this challenge through innovative tools,” says BHEF Executive Director Brian K. Fitzgerald.
About the Business-Higher Education Forum
BHEF brings together a coalition of corporate, academic, and foundation chief executives who provide leadership to improve U.S education and competitiveness. Learn more at www.bhef.com.
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