Washington STEM Summit 2015

Engineering is essential to solving Washington’s most complex challenges. Yet, most students and even adults considering a career change have no formal exposure or entry points to engineering careers.

We have maintained an emphasis on “science” and “engineering” as distinctive in K-12 schools. Teachers have limited access to professional development about engineering education. As a result of this lack of exposure to engineering, most students who reach middle school describe a lack of interest in engineering. Rolling out Next Generation Science Standards should be a fix - exposing all Washington students to engineering for the first time and fostering the learning of science that is interdisciplinary and connected to the real world. Yet problems surface later in the pipeline – employers seeking talented engineers can’t find people with the backgrounds they need. How do we build interest in engineering for students while also preparing a broader and more diverse engineering workforce?