White House, Philanthropic Sector Seek Increased STEM Education Participation

Although the United States remains among the world’s most competitive nations, its ability to effectively deliver quality math and science education hinders its competitiveness, according to the most recent edition of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index.  New commitments ranging from the White House to the philanthropic sector offer opportunities to increase the capacity for American schools to engage in additional STEM activities.

The most recent edition of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index ranks the United States as the world’s third most competitive country, trailing only Switzerland and Singapore. This ranking is surmised from 12 pillars, ranging from infrastructure to macroeconomic environment to innovation, each with several subcomponents. The strength of the United States lies in its combination of excellent innovation capacity (4th), massive market size (2nd), and sophisticated businesses (4th). The country’s innovation capacity is driven by collaboration between firms and universities (2nd), human capital (4th on availability of scientists and engineers), and company spending on R&D (3rd). While the U.S. ranks first in the quantity of education available, it ranks 18th in the quality of education. Much of this has to do with the quality of math and science education in the United States ranking 44th in the world, according to the Competitive Index. That the United States trails other developed nations, and several less developed countries in its ability to effectively deliver quality math and science education hinders U.S. competitiveness.

At the federal level, the Obama administration continues to emphasize the importance of STEM education.  Earlier in the month, President Obama signed into a law a bill expanding the definition of STEM to include computer science. Speaking at the second annual Astronomy Night, President Obama noted that the U.S. is halfway to his stated goal of training 100,000 new STEM teachers by the end of the decade, and is on track to connect 99 percent of our students to high-speed Internet over the same timeframe.  Furthermore, the president stated that the Educate to Innovate campaign has raised $1 billion to support STEM programs nationwide. One new initiative to support STEM education unveiled at the event includes Bayer’s launch of a national effort to help 100,000 American parents and children work on science and engineering projects together. Furthermore, the president announced that more than 300 foundations, museums, libraries and schools across the country partnering to bring hands-on science programming to underserved communities. In March of this year, the president announced more than $250 million in new STEM commitments.

Understanding the role that quality STEM education plays in developing innovators and entrepreneurs, Best Buy founder Richard Schulze announced that his foundation was on track to donate $35 million this year and considerably more in the future to support innovative programming. In particular, the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation will target two pilot projects that it hopes to make a national model. Through a $15 million, three-year grant, The Catholic Schools Center of Excellence is a new project emphasizing technology, teacher training and information-sharing. The second project will create student scholarships, distinguished professorships, and an online “Entrepreneur & Innovation Exchange” that allows business researchers to share their ideas more quickly.