Jane Edwards
A new report from Raytheon and U.S. News & World Report magazine indicates the country continues to experience a workforce shortage in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields and may have to rely on foreign-born employees to fill STEM positions.
The 2016 U.S. News/Raytheon STEM Index shows a 6-percent rise in the number of students who earned STEM-related graduate degrees in 2015 compared to the previous year and 28-percent increase in STEM jobs since 2000, U.S. News said Tuesday.
“While our universities are producing more STEM graduates, many of these students are foreigners on temporary visas,” said Brian Kelly, editor and chief content officer of U.S. News.
“It’s clear that we need to focus our efforts on getting more kids, particularly women and African-Americans, interested in pursuing STEM at a young age.”
“While the STEM Index shows that computer science is a top STEM career choice, the need for cyber talent has never been greater,†Dave Wajsgras, president of Raytheon‘s intelligence, information and services business segment.
“Protecting networks is a big concern for industry, government and the military, but as a country, we haven’t educated and trained enough people to protect these environments,” added Wajsgras, an inductee into Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 for 2016.
According to the index, white and Asian students are more likely to show higher scores in the SATÂ math sections than black students.
The index also showed that Hispanic students obtained more STEM degrees across all education levels in 2015.
