Since the founding of the Nation, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have been a source of inspirational discoveries and transformative technological advances, helping the United States develop the world’s most competitive economy and preserving peace through strength.The pace of innovation is accelerating globally, and with it the competition for scientific and technical talent. Now more than ever the innovation capacity of the United States—and its prosperity and security—depends on an effective and inclusive STEM education ecosystem. Individual success in the 21st century economy is also increasingly dependent on STEM literacy; simply to function as an informed consumer and citizen in a world of increasingly sophisticated technology requires the ability to use digital devices and STEM skills such as evidence-based reasoning….

All Americans will have lifelong access to high-quality STEM education and the United States will be the global leader in STEM literacy, innovation, and employment.

A Vision for STEM Education in America

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have been the foundation for discovery and technological innovation throughout American history. Americans with a strong foundation in STEM have electrified the Nation, harnessed the power of the atom, put men on the Moon and rovers on Mars, developed the internet, designed computers that fit in your pocket, created imaging machines that reveal the inner workings of the body, and decoded the human genome.These stunning achievements have transformed the human experience, inspired generations, and fostered the strong public support for STEM education and research.

The pace of global innovation is accelerating along with the competition for scientific and technical talent. Today, the economic prosperity and national security of the United States rests increasingly on its capacity for continued scientific and technological innovation. America’s national innovation base depends more than ever on a strong, cross-sector collaboration around common STEM education interests and goals—a STEM ecosystem—that can provide all Americans with access to high-quality STEM education throughout their lifetimes. Establishing a path to basic STEM literacy for everyone is vital to preparing a diverse workforce needed for the United States to lead and prosper in an increasingly competitive world driven by advanced technology.

Over the past 25 years, STEM education has been evolving from a convenient clustering of four overlapping disciplines toward a more cohesive knowledge base and skill set critical for the economy of the 21st century. The best STEM education provides an interdisciplinary approach to learning, where rigorous academic concepts are coupled with real-world applications and students use STEM in contexts that make connections between school, community, work, and the wider world. Leaders in STEM education continue to broaden and deepen its scope and further transcend the fields of study beyond just a combination of the four disciplines to include the arts and humanities. Modern STEM education imparts not only skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, higher order thinking, design, and inference, but also behavioral competencies such as perseverance, adaptability, cooperation, organization, and responsibility.

The American STEM enterprise is composed of a constellation of public and private sector organizations providing education and training in myriad ways and conducting research and development (R&D) across all sectors of the economy.

“Charting a course for success: America’s strategy for STEM Education,” December 2018

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