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eMbry-riddLe hAS beeN iNvoLved iN the SUcceSS of thiS high SchooL AviAtioN hiStory cLASS iN fLoridA.
STEM the Flow
Embry-Riddle, other programs aim to put more students into technology careers.
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WRITING BY :: ROBERT C. OWEN
TECHCONNECTmag.COm
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nless you live on the Kuiper Belt, you know that the United States is in the midst of an educational crisis. We are not producing enough high school and university graduates with respectable competencies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects and career fields. If the problem is not fixed, this country will loose its global technology leadership, our standard of living will decline, and Arizona’s dream of becoming a technology powerhouse will fizzle like a wet firecracker. Consider: • Most scientists and engineers now live in Asia. • South Korea graduates almost as many engineers as the United States. Yes, China’s educational standards are lower for engineers. But cast your false hope to the wind: Most U.S. engineering doctorates are awarded to foreign students, many sponsored by their governments. So, they’re going home to compete with you from there. Just as daunting, corporate leaders frequently report turning away business for lack of skilled workers. To fill the gap, they spend gazillions recruiting young people away from the burger grills of America and training them to work in high-tech processes. Problematically, most of these little jewels can’t do simple algebra, read blueprints, or write concise and grammatically credible emails, which means it costs a lot of time and money to train them.
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Fortunately, much is being done about STEM education nationally and in Arizona. Just Google “fixing STEM education” and you’ll see that money is flooding in, with the consequent proliferation of STEM-fixing programs ranging from really good to fraudulent. Among the really good programs in Arizona is Project Lead the Way, a private contractor that puts rigorous, hands-on STEM learning into several high schools. Arizona State University conducts early-college programs to accelerate the engineering educations of high-performing students. Numerous high schools offer STEM academies, and the Challenger Centers (for space science education) draw in younger students. ANother choice Of course, I like our program best. The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Aerospace Institute program in Prescott and Daytona Beach, Fla., partners school districts, local industry and universities to provide focused, dual-credit STEM education at a cost sustainable to school districts. At the heart of the program, we put professionally experienced professors into high schools to teach university programs of study in fields such as engineering, aviation, space physics and maintenance. They teach one or two classes a day for small stipends, mainly because they want to excite young people about the careers they love—and they do. The program has existed for seven years in Florida and Illinois, and now Embry-Riddle is working with local school districts to bring the
program to Arizona. The goal is to start in Arizona in August. Diversity is one of our watchwords. If we’re going to increase the number of technicians, engineers and other professionals going into technology careers, we’re going to have to look beyond the traditional sources of middleclass Caucasian and Asian males. We need to cast a wider net, drawing more women and people of all races and backgrounds. The Aerospace Institute program, therefore, aims to draw motivated kids from all social and economic strata into STEM. These programs show them that STEM careers are cool, intellectually doable and affordable. The bottom lines: 1) Almost any student willing to work can make this jump to university-level work, 2) Any student exploiting this program can afford to go to college, and 3) Any industry partner can make a profit in saved human resources costs and reap public relations rewards from this program because we tailor the curriculum to the requirements of local employers. This program has worked in Florida and Illinois. I hope to see the same thing happen in Arizona.
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Robert C. Owen is a professor in the Department of Aeronautical Science and director of Advanced Placement Programs for the College of Aviation at EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.