There’s a diversity challenge in the fields of STEM. In the U.S., women comprise only 24% of the STEM workforce. For Black STEM professionals, the percentage has not increased since 2016, according to findings by Pew Research, while Hispanic professionals are currently only 8% of the STEM workforce.
Solving the problems means reaching a more diverse range of young people through education to drive racial equity and innovation to close the opportunity gap in the STEM workforce. The STEM Careers Coalition is the first-of-its-kind national STEM initiative powered by corporate leaders and anchored in schools by Discovery Education.
Representing a range of industry sectors, the STEM Careers Coalition™ seeks to prepare 10 million students for the future of work by 2025 by providing equitable access to digital content and experiences that engage students in instruction, build foundational STEM knowledge, and develop the critical skills students need for college and career success.
Members of the STEM Careers Coalition are united by the common goals of empowering educators to teach STEM effectively in the classroom, fostering and promoting quality education, and building the next generation of STEM solution-seekers with intentional focus on racial and gender equity. All 22 partners contribute careers content, expertise, and insight for the high-quality resources offered by the STEM Careers Coalition available to communities at no-cost.
Content from the SCC connects the dots between the classroom and careers to show how students can use their STEM skills to make a difference in the world. The Coalition takes a strategic approach to create curriculum resources and avenues to support students in varying environments that will strengthen summer learning resources to bridge learning gaps attributed to the last year of alternate learning environments.
Through support from industry-leading partners – such as Microsoft, PepsiCo, Stanley Black & Decker, Procter and Gamble, Chevron, DuPont, Boeing, Caterpillar, and many more – the Coalition connects students to the careers of tomorrow through innovative learning today via 5 key strategies:
1. DIRECT INVESTMENT IN SCHOOLS: Meaningful investment in K–12 STEM career resources and professional development for under-resourced schools.
2. Employee Engagement: Mobilize the current STEM workforce at scale to inspire and connect with tomorrow’s employees.
3. Thought Leadership: Multi sector leadership joining voices together to elevate a national STEM conversation.
4. Careers Portal: A dynamic careers destination for schools, parents, press, and the public that tells the story of the people and future needs of critical industries.
5. Research & Impact: Impact, optimize, and measure STEM engagement and career awareness by harnessing quantitative and qualitative insights.
The Coalition partner’s work supports their Social goals (as part of the ESG model) by showcasing diverse STEM leaders and supporting a sustainable and diversified pipeline of future STEM workers. Both aspects focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion and center on education as the primary tool to do so. Many partners rely upon the impact of the Coalition for their own ESG reporting and the Coalition proudly supports additional aspects (such as the Environmental pillar) by continuously showcasing sustainability-focused activities, commitments, concepts, solutions, and leaders as part of the Coalition content for students.
Hundreds of resources are available at no cost at stemcareerscoalition.org where educators, students, and families can find classroom guides, lesson plans, career profile videos, career exploration tools, family activities, and much more. As schools continue to pivot to remote and hybrid learning due to the safety precautions necessitated by COVID-19, the STEM Careers Coalition pivoted. The Coalition now presents an array of engaging virtual experiences, including thought leadership discussions, virtual classroom career days, and virtual STEM Community events.
Discovery Education partnered with industry leaders who continue to step up for educators, students, and families by seamlessly and thoughtfully connecting education to careers. Executives from Discovery Education and partner executives met with educators and educational leaders. Curriculum experts on Discovery Education’s staff worked to craft engaging materials designed aligned to learning standards while showcasing the innovative leadership of the Coalition partners. The content is distributed by Discovery Education through the flexible K-12 learning platform and is available to all at no-cost on STEMcareerscoalition.org. Stakeholders from marketing, curriculum, design, partnerships, and more met to finesse the Coalition plan and continue to ideate for improved outreach and implementation. Educators continue to provide input about the resources and their evolving needs.
STEM Careers Coalition helps schools, educators, students, and communities ensure lasting STEM education impact with high-quality, vetted, and innovative learning solutions. Since its launch, the Coalition has directly supported over 5 million students and 500 schools across the United States.
The Coalition content is anchored in schools by Discovery Education, the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art digital platform supports learning wherever it takes place. Through its award-winning multimedia content, instructional supports, and innovative classroom tools, Discovery Education helps educators deliver equitable learning experiences engaging all students and supporting higher academic achievement on a global scale. Discovery Education serves approximately 4.5 million educators and 45 million students worldwide, and its resources are accessed in over 100 countries and territories.
