[This is an opinion piece submitted by Joseph Bostic, Jr Founder of Retention Frontiers, Inc, and Samantha Go of Solsolution and organization focusing on Solar Technology within STEM. Retention Frontiers serves underprivileged teens and young adults through STEM, programs, events and workshops. For more information you can connect on Twitter at @RetentFrontiers or at http://www.retentionfrontiers.com.]
A social worker help improves the quality of life for families, individuals,
and communities. Often times, a social worker provides an assessment of one
or more systems. A social worker could significantly improve the quality of life
by implementing STEM representing (Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics) in their education practices. STEM is a robust and efficient
model that offers elements of development and progress for the United
States unemployment rate.
As of September, the United States unemployment rate hovered just
above 8%, amongst the highest percentages that the U.S. has seen in over 3
decades. With all the media attention on the lack of available jobs in this
country, it may come as a surprise that there are actually an abundance of job
openings right now. The manufacturing industry currently has over 3 million
open jobs but is simply struggling to fill them. Why? America has an extreme
scarcity of skilled workers. There simply are not enough people with the
capacity to meet the demand of the available jobs.
The heart of the problem lies in the American education system and
the minimal emphasis that is placed on the science and technology fields in
primary schooling. Students today are simply not motivated or inspired to
learn the skills to prepare them for work in these industries. A social worker
plays a critical role in validating the readiness for families. Social workers
implementing STEM as a resource provides families with skills that other
families lack. For example, families would attain critical thinking and problem
solving skills from implemented STEM resources. This implementation is an
important branch of STEM education, which results in opportunities. STEM is a
new catchphrase in education transcending in the past few years, and its
mission is to help students understand the elements of the natural and
designed worlds.
Typically, students are taught mathematics and science in separate
classrooms with clear divisions. However, the boundaries between the
different disciplines within STEM education are actually blurred. STEM
education believes that students should have a certain level of fluency in all
four areas. As jobs in the United States and the world in general, become
increasingly reliant upon science and technology, STEM has become one of
the most important education movements to date. A great example of this
movement is an individual ability to use the theory of calculus or the theory
of trigonometry to solve problems. The difference between calculus and
trigonometry are individual’s ability to solve problems and develop
sustainable solutions with calculus and trigonometry providing different skill
levels. Calculus will help individuals understand changes over a period of time
using the theory of derivatives or understanding angles using trigonometry.
One problem is that students are not informed about the opportunities
they will have with a proper STEM education. A poll of U.S. high school
students found that 44% said that they would be more interested in a career
in engineering after they learned that this was the discipline responsible for
the release of the Chilean miners in 2010. Students simply don’t understand
the extent to which STEM education can offer a wide variety of careers that
extend far beyond the stereotypical image of lab technician or research
scientist, which can seem intense, daunting, or even just boring.
In order to prevent these opportunities from passing students by any
longer, STEM education needs to be encouraged at a young age and
maintained throughout the education process. Social workers aligning with
organizations similar to SolSolution and Retention Frontiers understanding
STEM will increase students and families’ opportunities to succeed. Thankfully,
a movement for more STEM education may spark a newfound interest in our
schools soon. Examples of recent attempts and initiatives include Sesame
Street’s focus on STEM education for their upcoming 2011-2012 season.
Social workers implementing STEM in their “Social Mechanisms” model will
engage all families and improve their opportunities to succeed.
We offer workshops such as The Power of STEM, Hooking up With Your STEM, Financial Literacy, Discovering the Leadership Qualities in YOU, and Health Prevention. Also, you can connect with one of our partners, SolSolution, on Twitter at @solsolution or at http://www.sol-solution.org.
