STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Due to the difficulty of STEM degrees, it appears many students abandon the degrees in college. While this fact is not surprising, it is still concerning. Our country and world need more good people with STEM skills.
A STEM degree is not essential to becoming a data scientist, but many data scientists have STEM backgrounds. Thus, I thought this information fit well with the Data Science Education Week theme.
How do we convince students to not abandon the STEM degrees?
One solution is to put less emphasis on grades. Grades in STEM courses are typically the lowest on campus, and this causes some students to switch degree programs in order to get better grades. Second, tell young people about some of the cool STEM projects available. Lots of people in Science and Math work on really interesting projects. If you can, tell the world about your projects.
What are some other ways to keep students in STEM programs?
Below is a nice infographic with various numbers about STEM students.
Thanks to Online Engineering Degree for the infographic.