“The Nation’s future depends on our ability to educate today’s students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Despite the fact that many U.S. students excel in STEM, U.S. students as a whole perform poorly on international comparisons of mathematical and scientific proficiency. There are wide disparities in STEM achievement among groups, and too many students think of STEM subjects as too difficult or uninviting. Nevertheless, the Nation can draw on key strengths to address these challenges, including a large and vibrant community of STEM professionals, new understandings of how children learn, a bipartisan consensus about the importance of STEM education, and state-led movements toward agreement on what students should learn in STEM. We must seize this historic moment by making changes and investments to educate all students for a future in which science and technology will play a critical role in the lives of individuals and the prospects of nations.”
— Source: chapter summary for the introduction to The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Prepare and Inspire: K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Education for America’s Future Working Group Report Source
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement maintains a list of fields and designated degree programs in the area of STEM, which can be found here.
At the current time STEAM fields of study are not available in a compiled format like STEM. However, STEAM includes all the areas covered by STEM, in addition to a range of topics like design, arts, aesthetics, and performance. By expanding to STEAM, design and creativity become integral parts of STEM content areas.