America is facing a job problem. It’s not the creation of jobs but filling them – and especially filling jobs in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. Added to this challenge is the fact that people are leaving the workforce in droves: in November 2021 alone, 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
STEM jobs are projected to grow more than two times faster than all other occupations combined over the next decade. However, while STEM jobs are forecasted to have high employment growth, interest in these types of jobs isn’t keeping up. This lack of interest by our emerging workforce can be attributed to many reasons, such as societal norms pushing people into jobs they “should” go into, cultural biases, or even self-bias.
