US2020

Igniting Moments of Discovery

The Case for the
STEM Mentoring Movement
You cant be what
you cant see.
S
ally Ride, the first American woman in space, said
this in an effort to explain how to recruit more girls
to the sciences. Young girls need to see role models
in whatever careers they may choose, Ride said, so
they can picture themselves doing those jobs
someday.1 Dr. Rides recognition is the basic tenet of
our work at US2020.
At US2020 we work to dramatically scale the
number of science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) professionals mentoring and
teaching students through hands-on projects, with a
focus on serving underrepresented youth. We
partner with companies, schools, nonprofits,
government agencies, and communities across the
country in an effort to reveal the promise and the
possibility of STEM.
The United States has a long, proud history of
excellence in STEM. Today more than ever before,
Americas economic growth depends upon continued
success in these fields. However, the countrys STEM
talent pipeline is currently insufficient and lacks the
diversity necessary to meet the challenges of the 21st
century.
Demand for STEM Professionals
In the past decade, STEM occupations exhibited
significantly higher job growth, higher wage growth,
and lower unemployment rates than non-STEM
occupations. From 2005 to 2012, STEM occupations
grew by 16%, while non-STEM occupations
exhibited no growth.2 By 2022, the U.S. will need
more than nine million STEM professionals to fill
projected job openings.3 With only 18% of
bachelors degrees conferred in core STEM subjects4 -
life and physical science, engineering, mathematics,
and information technology - the United States is not
projected to graduate enough STEM professionals to
meet this demand.5
Meanwhile, the majority of American students are
neither prepared nor sufficiently engaged to become
STEM-literate citizens or innovative STEM
professionals. The U.S. News/Raytheon STEM Index --
which tracks key indicators of STEM-related activities
in the U.S. -- shows that since 2000, student interest
and competency in STEM subjects have remained flat. 6
US2020 is one example of the many public efforts and
coalitions that can help to fundamentally change the STEM
education landscape in ways that provide opportunities,
excitement, engagement, inspiration, and training for more
and more of our talented young people.

John Holdren
Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and
Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

1 Lifes Work: Sally Ride, Harvard Business Review, September 2012, accessed September 10, 2014.
2 U.S. Government Accountability Office, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION: Assessing the Relationship between
Education and the Workforce, GAO-14-374, June 2014.
3 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Quarterly, STEM 101: Intro to tomorrows jobs, Spring 2014.
4 National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics 2011, May 2012.
5 Maltese, A. and Tai, R., Pipeline Persistence: Examining the Association of Educational Experiences With Earned Degrees in STEM Among U.S. Students,
Science Education volume 95, issue 5 (September 2011): 878, doi:10.1002/sce.20441.
6 New STEM Index Finds Americas STEM Talent Pool Still Too Shallow to Meet Demand, U.S. News, accessed September 10, 2014.

The STEM Diversity Gap
A lack of diversity along racial and gender lines
persists within the STEM workforce, despite strong
job growth in the past decade and strong
projections for continued growth. The countrys STEM
workforce remains 74% male and 85% White/Asian.
Addressing this diversity gap is not only a social
justice issue, but also a competitiveness issue.
It is not surprising to see which ethnicities are
underrepresented in STEM after reviewing recent
STEM education diversity data. In 2014 only 3.7% of
the students taking the Advanced Placement (AP)
Computer Science exam were African American.
Interestingly, that number actually represents
tremendous progress and was an increase of 33%
from 2013. Similarly, only 8.4% of 2014 AP Computer
Science exam takers were Hispanic.12
A Different Interpretation
of the Data
A recent CBS News report reviewed U.S. Census Bureau data, which
found that 74% of workers with STEM bachelors degrees are not
employed in STEM occupations.7 This led to their conclusion that
there is not a STEM talent shortage. However, the data reported by
the Census Bureau did not take into account any STEM graduates
employed in STEM-related occupations and therefore excludes the
major employment fields of healthcare practitioners (physicians,
surgeons, nurses, etc.) and healthcare technicians (genetic
counselors, sonographers, etc.).8
The U.S. News countered the CBS report by explaining that STEM
graduates select non-STEM occupations because their skills are in
demand and applicable across a number of occupations.9 For
example, as of 2012, 40% of legal professionals held STEM bachelors
degrees.10 Additionally, a report from the National Science
Foundation found that two-thirds of science and engineering
graduates working outside their field indicate that their work is
closely related to their degree,11 further supporting the assertion
that STEM skills are in high demand across all industries.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Selected Characteristics by Employment in STEM Occupations: 2011.

7 U.S. Census Bureau, Census Bureau Reports Majority of STEM College Graduates Do Not Work in STEM Occupations, Release Number: CB14-130, July 2014.
8 U.S. Census Bureau, Employment in STEM Occupations by Field of Degree for the First Listed Bachelors Degree: 2012, July 2014.
9 Beyond the Headline: U.S. Census Study on STEM Graduates, U.S. News, accessed September 10, 2014.
10 U.S. Government Accountability Office, SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION: Assessing the Relationship between Education
and the Workforce, GAO-14-374, June 2014.
11 National Science Foundation, Science and Engineering Indicators 2012: 3-5, accessed September 10, 2014.
12 Code.org, AP Computer Science data, July 2014 and http://code.org/files/APCS-2014.pdf, accessed September 10, 2014.
 Women have made huge strides in their pursuit of higher
education and now earn more associates, bachelors, Declining Progress in
masters, and doctors degrees than men.13 Yet they remain
noticeably absent from STEM careers.
Computer Science
Strikingly, there has been
15 a recent and steady
Finding ways to encourage underrepresented groups to decline in the number of women studying computer
pursue STEM education and careers is an economic science. As of 2011, only 17.6% of students who earned
imperative. Engaging underrepresented demographics will a computer science bachelors degree were women --
16
drive the required numbers of new STEM professionals; the lowest percentage recorded since 1974.14
more diversity will also bring new ideas, new creativity and
new passion. A workforce with a diversity of backgrounds
and experiences will be a more innovative one.
17

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Selected Characteristics by Employment in STEM Occupations: 2011.

The Case for STEM Mentorship
Research has shown that student interest in STEM has
been found to be more strongly predictive of the pursuit of
a STEM degree than academic achievement.15 Yet a
Lemelson-MIT survey found that the majority of teenagers
may be discouraged from pursuing STEM careers because
they do not know anyone who works in these fields and they
do not understand what people in these fields do.16
Quality mentorship is uniquely positioned to address the
barriers to pursuing STEM careers -- the lack of exposure to
STEM and the lack of connections to STEM professionals.
Research has shown that having adult role models --
specifically mentors -- provides academic and emotional
benefits for students, particularly at-risk youth.19 Additional
studies concluded that students engaged with STEM
professionals have more confidence in their STEM
capabilities and more knowledge of STEM careers.20

A 2012 study by The Girl Scout Research Institute found that
although the majority of girls are interested in STEM-related
subjects, they are far less likely to choose a STEM career;
this disparity is, in part, due to gender stereotypes and
negative STEM associations.17 Minority girls in particular
have had less exposure to STEM and less adult support for
pursuing STEM fields.18
US2020s education partners provide mentorship
opportunities for students to engage with STEM
professionals through hands-on activities and projects.
Particularly within the sciences, multiple studies have shown
that hands-on activities lead to greater student interest in
science, and greater motivation to do science. Perhaps most
importantly, students interest persisted long after
participation in the hands-on activities had ended.21

13 National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics 2012, NCES 2014015, December 2013.
14 National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, Table 313: Bachelors degrees conferred by degree-granting institutions, by field of study:
Selected years, 1970-71 through 2010-11, May 2012.
15 Maltese, A. and Tai, R., Pipeline Persistence: Examining the Association of Educational Experiences With Earned Degrees in STEM Among U.S. Students,
Science Education volume 95, issue 5 (September 2011): 877, doi:10.1002/sce.20441.
16 Survey: Teens Prepared for STEM Careers, Center for Digital Education, accessed September 10, 2014.
17 Girl Scouts of the USA, Generation STEM: What Girls Say About Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math,16-22, 2012.
18 Ibid.
19 Abt Associates, Defining a Research Agenda for STEM Corps: Working White Paper, June 2014.
20 Ibid,4.
21 Foley, B. and McPhee, C., Students Attitudes towards Science in Classes Using Hands-On or Textbook Based Curriculum, 2008.
 Citizen Schools, a US2020 National Education Partner,
has engaged STEM professionals in hands-on, multi-
session apprenticeships with middle school students in
low income communities for the past 20 years. In 2011-
2012, Citizen Schools conducted a study and found that
after participating in STEM apprenticeships, 80% of 8th
grade students expressed interest in STEM fields and
careers -- more than double the national average of 33%.22
At US2020 we believe that if we can scale the number
of STEM mentors engaging with students in high-quality,
multi-session, experiential learning opportunities, we
can significantly increase inspiration and achievement in
STEM education and the pursuit of STEM careers. US2020
is proud to partner with best-in-class organizations in this
effort, including Girl Scouts, Citizen Schools, Boys and
Girls Clubs, MentorNet, 4-H, Spark, Project Lead the Way,
and many others.

Inspiring students through hands-on STEM projects is a key

first step to building the STEM workforce and the informed
citizenry that we need. It is a social justice and national
competitiveness priority. US2020 aims to stimulate a
movement a cultural shift that generates millions of
moments of discovery for millions of underserved students.
We hope you will join with us in bringing this vision to life. 23

Sanjay Mehrotra
Co-Founder, President and CEO of SanDisk

An Importance Beyond STEM

A stronger and more inclusive STEM talent pipeline is directly linked to our countrys broader challenge of
unequal opportunity. Parental wealth now predicts adult success more than at any point in the last 100 years.24
Despite the narrative of the American Dream, the United States now trails most other developed nations,
including France, Spain, and Canada, in social mobility. 25

Meanwhile, opportunity abounds in STEM. Entry-level STEM jobs have a 26% wage premium over entry level
non-STEM positions 26 and the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the ten fastest growing occupations with
the highest median wage will all be STEM careers.27 The overall job growth in STEM industries has been
detailed above. If the country successfully addresses the STEM diversity challenge and builds a larger, more
inclusive STEM workforce, we will in turn change the opportunity equation in America. US2020 and its partners
are committed to achieving this vision.

22 How to Avoid Falling Off the School Cliff, Citizen Schools, inspirEDblog, accessed September 10, 2014.
23 We Need All Hands on Deck for Science Education, Forbes, April 2013, accessed September 10, 2014.
24 Joseph Ferrie, History Lessons: The End Of American Exceptionalism? Mobility In The United States Since 1850, Journal of Economic Perspectives 19 (2005),
199-215.
25 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth 2010,185. Similar data found in Raj Chetty, et al.
Equality of Opportunity Project, http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/
26 Burning Glass, Real-Time Insight into the Market for Entry-Level STEM Jobs, Feb 2014.
27 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table 1.3: Fastest growing occupations, 2012 and projected 2022, December 2013.