STEM graduate numbers decrease

The number of students graduating from Central Pennsylvania's colleges and universities with a degree in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, also known as STEM, has decreased over the last three years.

While the number of graduates has slipped, businesses and other organizations say STEM graduates are critical for tomorrow's economy and the U.S. will need about 200,000 more of them to remain competitive globally.

"In order for our nation to survive economically in the next decades, we'll need people that are technically educated," said Pat Castellani, president of Carlisle-based AutumnWave, the North American distributor of HDTV receivers for personal computers. "But we also need people that can solve practical problems."

AutumnWave not only sells the receivers, but it also takes a lot of feedback from customers on existing models. That feedback helps the company redesign and improve products at the manufacturing level in South Korea, he said.

For that, AutumnWave will need graduates in math, sciences, technology and engineering as the business for high-end electronics continues to grow.

A group of 16 business associations around the country is calling for an ambitious effort to increase the number of U.S. degree holders. Tapping America's Potential (TAP) was started in 2005 to increase awareness and promote studying STEM concentrations. Its goal was to double the number of U.S. degree graduates to 400,000 by 2015.

In July, the group put out a third-year report saying the U.S. has made dismal progress toward that goal despite support for the group's agenda.

The U.S. only added 24,000 bachelor's degree recipients in STEM fields over the last three years, according to TAP. That's well short of benchmarks the nation needs to achieve to reach the goal.

Various industries are depending on an influx of STEM graduates, from energy to electronics and manufacturing.

Phoenix Contact USA Inc., a manufacturer of industrial electronic components and mechanisms for automation, wants more graduates with technical and high-tech degrees, said Jeffrey R. Frekot, the company's manager of strategic initiatives.

The company, based in Lower Swatara Township, Dauphin County, is looking for job candidates who have backgrounds in electrical and mechanical engineering for many positions, including salespeople, he said.

"Most of the products we offer are high-tech products, and most customers we deal with are looking for technical solutions," he said, noting that STEM backgrounds will improve customer relations.

There are about 135 students studying engineering at Messiah College in Cumberland County, with about 50 first-year students, said Carl Erikson, chairman of the college's engineering department.

While Erikson has found an increase in the number of students in his department, the contribution to national numbers is a molecule in the bucket, and the decision to study the sciences lies with the student, he said.

"One of the problems is that it takes a lot of hard work to be an engineer, and some people are probably taking the easier path," he said.

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology is dedicated to adding more grads to the sciences and has seen some success in attracting students, said spokesman Steve Infanti. Ten students graduated this year, and the school in downtown Harrisburg plans to graduate 30 students at its 2009 commencement, he said.

Although national efforts focus a lot of attention on young adults and secondary-school students, another group of people needs STEM education in the coming decades, Infanti said.

"The new face of science education," he said. "Put an adult there."

Incumbent worker training and re-training for adults in evolving professions will be a big issue, he said, especially since about 80 percent of the jobs created over the next decade will require some level of science, math and technology education.

Students need to see a payoff or a benefit to take career paths that require a lot of work, Erikson said. If you demonstrate that it's fun and challenging to work in STEM fields, you might recruit more people.

A pop-culture push might interest more students and adults in STEM fields, Erikson said.

"What we need is a MacGyver on TV, a champion engineer to show students that science and engineering can be fun," he said. "I've been at this for 40 years, and it's fun."

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