There’s a diversity challenge in the fields of STEM. Currently, in the United States, 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 from Discovery Education does just that by solving for critical gaps in diverse representation in the STEM professional workforce. The Coalition is an alliance of industries and non-profit organizations, reaching 6.7 million teachers and students with equitable access to STEM resources and career connections since it's launch in 2019. The Coalition will continue to ignite student curiosity and influence a diverse future STEM workforce and reach 10 million teachers and students by 2025.
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 creating 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.
The STEM Careers Coalition is preparing 10 million students for the future of work by 2025. Through support from industry leading partners – such as Pepsi, DuPont, Chevron, Stanley Black & Decker, 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.
Solving the problems that matter means reaching a more diverse range of young people to drive racial equity and innovation to close the opportunity gap in the STEM workforce. The STEM Careers Coalition is committed to mindfully creating a more inclusive pipeline of STEM professionals in the next 5-10 years, by focusing on equity of access and the empowerment of highly-qualified African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, and women
To do so, the Coalition deeply collaborates with their partners to source speakers and highlight careers while working with Discovery Education’s diverse curriculum experts to ensure alignment to learning standards and the education community’s needs. The strength of the Coalition is the diverse industry representation united by the common mission to support students to see the STEM in them. Through curriculum design, user experience testing, and educator feedback sessions, the educational materials are crafted to fit the growing and evolving needs of educators and students. The no-cost content is shared widely through thoughtful marketing campaigns tailored to STEM educators while public relations activities communicate the good work of the Coalition to education media outlets. Departments across Discovery Education work closely to produce high-quality dynamic digital content aligned to the needs and standards of educators that rings true the lived experiences of STEM professionals. Each piece of content is vetted and approved by the respective partner and fits into a larger STEM and diversity narrative of the Coalition. Content collections – such as those curated for Black History Month or Women’s History Month – further emphasize the power of diversity in STEM and make it all the easier for educators to connect students to a STEM future by seeing people like them in these roles.
STEM Careers Coalition helps schools, educators, students, and communities so they may ensure lasting educational impact with high-quality, vetted, and innovative learning solutions. Since launch, the Coalition has directly supported thousands of schools across the United States. From August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023 alone, the Coalition reached over 3,650 schools as well as over 250,000 educators and 2.3 million students. Additionally, with a focus on equity of access and intentional attention to underserved communities, of the schools that the Coalition reaches are urban, and about 77% of Title 1 schools.
STEMcareerscoalition.org has reached over 7.2 million students and educators since launch in 2019.
