Developing engineering onramps for K-12 students is mission critical to address the U.S. engineering worker shortage. According to a report by Burning Glass and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the amount of available engineering jobs is 15% higher than the number of engineering workers. This workforce shortage is exasperated by the fact that underrepresented populations are not pursuing engineering pathways.
Per data from The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, a division of the National Science Foundation, the engineering workforce lacks diversity in both gender and ethnicity. A report entitled ‘Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering’ cited the following:
Women are 50% of the working age population & 14.5% of the engineering workforce.
Blacks are 13% of the working age population & 4.3% of the engineering workforce.
Hispanics are 17% of the general working population & 7% of the engineering workforce.
We are surrounded everyday by products and systems designed by engineers. At the same time many students and career influencers are unaware of the real career opportunities and have a perception that engineering is unobtainable and too difficult for most students. Curricular materials do not portray engineering in ways that increase the interest of students from a gender, ethnicity, or cultural perspective. As a result, underrepresented students often don't participate in K–12 engineering classrooms. As the gap between qualified candidates and engineering careers continues to grow, there will be an increased demand for educator preparation programs that result in qualified teacher capacity that addresses equity and inclusion in STEM.
To kick-off Engineers Week (February 16th-22nd), mindSpark Learning and Couragion are proud to announce a series of 2-day, in-person engineering institutes for any educator who wants to upskill their repertoire in engineering, project management, design, and STEM. Participants will not only learn key engineering competencies, but they will also walk away with practical lessons and activities that can be implemented in the classroom to address equity-centric teaching practices. Our institutes run from April through September 2020. Now is your chance to register with early bird pricing before they fill up! Happy Engineers Week!
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