STEM

An acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, STEM has become popular recently in discussions involving grade school and higher education curriculums.

STEM proponents often seek to have a greater focus placed on an integrated STEM curriculum in U.S. public schools and universities in order to better prepare students for high-level tech jobs as well as to help ensure the country remains economically and technologically competitive with other countries.

STEM a Priority for President Obama

STEM education has been a key priority for President Obama’s administration, with the president calling for the U.S. to recruit and develop at least 100,000 STEM-focused teachers over the next 10 years and for colleges and universities to graduate an additional 1 million or more students with STEM majors over the same time period.

STEM also comes up frequently in immigration and other political debates in terms of providing work visas to immigrants that are skilled in these fields as well as in education reforms to address the shortage of STEM-skilled workers and lack of representation among minorities and women in STEM studies and majors.

A closely related acronym to STEM, MINT, which stands for math, information sciences, natural sciences and technology, is commonly discussed in countries like Germany that also have a shortage of candidates for high-level technology jobs.

Forrest Stroud
Forrest Stroud
Forrest is a writer for Webopedia. Experienced, entrepreneurial, and well-rounded, he has 15+ years covering technology, business software, website design, programming, and more.
Get the Free Newsletter
Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
This email address is invalid.
Get the Free Newsletter
Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
This email address is invalid.

Related Articles

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts a device's Internet access through a secure server. It is most frequently used for remote employees accessing a...

Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule and shows the dependency between tasks and the current schedule...

Input Sanitization

Input sanitization is a cybersecurity measure of checking, cleaning, and filtering data inputs from users, APIs, and web services of any unwanted characters and...

IT Asset Management Software

IT asset management software (ITAM software) is an application for organizing, recording, and tracking all of an organization s hardware and software assets throughout...

ScalaHosting

ScalaHosting is a leading managed hosting provider that offers secure, scalable, and affordable...

HRIS

Human resources information system (HRIS) solutions help businesses manage multiple facets of their...

Best Managed Service Providers...

In today's business world, managed services are more critical than ever. They can...