Public support of STEM is key to student success
Gov. Greg Abbott has rightly pointed out that if Texas were a country, its economy would rank 10th in the world. Our businesses here in Houston, and across the state, regularly invest in science, technology, engineering and math industries, making us a significant producer of the most sought-after goods and services in the global marketplace.
To maintain our position of strength, we must align our education system to our state’s employment needs. Maintaining a pre-eminent economy and workforce begins with giving students the skills needed to adapt across multiple jobs and even careers within a lifetime.
This process must begin as early as Pre-K and include recruiting professionals from all industries to engage and inspire students along their journey to graduation. Over the past 20 years, our education system has grown by nearly 2 million students to now serve almost 5.2 million across the state.
Unfortunately, the reality is many of our students still live in economically disadvantaged homes. It is troubling that only 11 percent of Texas eighth-graders qualifying for free or reduced lunch achieve any post-secondary credentials within 11 years, according to findings recently documented in a tri-agency report submitted to the governor by the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Our mission must be to ensure our students have the support and resources they need to succeed. As the tri-agency report states, helping economically disadvantaged students is paramount to helping Texas be a national and world leader in new and emerging — and even yet-toexist — industries.
So how does Texas gain an edge in this ever-changing environment?
Innovative and discovery-based learning is vital to maintaining a competitive workforce, and a Houston-based movement has been at the forefront in providing students with platforms where they can develop the creative and criticalthinking skills needed to evaluate largescale problems and provide effective solutions. For a decade, Harmony Public Schools, a charter school system that drew recognition earlier this week as a finalist for the prestigious Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools, has hosted the International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering and Environment Projects competition, or ISWEEEP. The annual event features students from around the world, many from right here in Texas, presenting original research and attempting to answer some of society’s most pressing needs.
Taking place this week and continuing through Friday at the George R. Brown Convention Center, the event rightly elevates the importance of STEM education and STEM industries. This is our future; importantly, as Andres Alcantar, Chairman of the Texas Workforce Commission, who will be at ISWEEEP Friday, has asserted, it’s the future of Texas’ economy.
We’re in good hands. The students participating in ISWEEEP are digital natives; they are fearless about exploring the unknown. We must do our part to ensure their passion for STEM is harnessed for the benefit of the country. Business leaders must educate state and national representatives about the challenges employers face in recruitment and retention of a workforce prepared to lead us into the future. And government leaders need to pull together K-12 educators, advanced academics and the business community to develop cohesive programs — and, critically, fund these programs — that are vital to the success of students, and, thus, the country.
But public involvement in STEM education is more than just dollars, cents and talking points. Students need to see that public support for STEM touches the classroom, too.
It is absolutely vital that students be exposed to STEM learning by STEM professionals. We must encourage and support the businesses and firms that employ scientists, engineers, mathematicians and technologists to give these professionals the opportunity to spend time in the classroom, and mentor the next generations of their calling.
Think of what weekly visits from practicing scientists could mean for kids who struggle to see a real-world application for their studies. There is no better example of what a STEM education can do for a student than to meet a practicing professional who was once just like them.
Some Houston energy companies have robust volunteer corps of employees who are active in local schools, and that should continue. But there’s always room for more, and especially STEM-focused participation from the region’s businesses. I urge them to spend time talking to teachers and students about the challenges, the opportunities, and the intellectual, professional, and social rewards of a STEM education and career. It’s crucial not only for our future Texas businesses, but the business future of Texas.