Five Good Reads on Closing the Skills Gap in STEM

We’ve all likely experienced that anxiety-inducing moment when an automatic phone or computer update leaves us scratching our head as to how this device in front of us is the same one we’ve used before. Or that moment when we’ve walked into a trendy new restaurant only to realize that our entire transaction will be conducted over a small tablet screen. It has become commonplace to experience moments of simultaneous gratitude and disorientation towards the technology that governs our lives. In a world where technology shifts and updates faster than we can keep up, workplaces are also transforming into high tech laboratories that require a vastly different skill set than was expected even ten years ago.

Given the tremendous technological advances of the past decade, the global labor force faces a skills mismatch of ever-widening proportions. Around the world, 200 million people are unemployed, while nearly 60 percent of CEOs report that a shortage of skilled labor is holding back their company’s growth. As employers struggle to find qualified candidates from the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), the need to tailor academic curriculums based on emerging employment demands from the private sector is clear.

Over the past few years, the push to bridge this gap has underscored the need to better align academia and business. In classrooms from Ghana to Australia, teachers are looking to translate STEM education into relevant and practical workplace skills. Vocational courses that build both technical know-how and the soft skills of being a great employee are starting to appear in curriculums. The private sector has also stepped up its role by developing innovative education models in partnership with educators and policymakers. Companies like IBM, SAP, and 3M have designed integrated models such as P-TECH, B-TECH, and STEP to prepare students for “new-collar” jobs in STEM disciplines.

Continue reading on PYXERAGlobal.org