By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
http://www.louisianaweekly.com/stem-nola-receives-2-79-m-from-the-dod/
New Orleans-based STEM NOLA received a $2.79 million grant this month from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to expand educational workshops and access across the Gulf South, serving military-connected families. It is STEM NOLA’s largest award to date and comes at a time when STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) jobs are the steadiest, most lucrative jobs available to Americans.
“STEM is the future. STEM is now,” said Dr. Calvin Mackie, CEO of STEM NOLA. “We’re seeing that through the heavy reliance now being placed on technology as many of our children attend school virtually.”
The award was one of only 12 handed out by the DOD’s National Defense Education Program Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
“The Department of Defense is proud to support the STEM workforce our nation needs to maintain our technological superiority in the future,” said Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael Kratsios in a press release. “We are particularly pleased with the range of initiatives pursued by this year’s awardees, with programs for early childhood education, post-secondary study, and outreach to student veterans. This investment will be critical to expanding STEM opportunities to students, educators, and veterans in underserved, underrepresented, and military-connected communities.”
STEM NOLA’s mission is to engage and inspire members of the community in learning about opportunities in STEM fields. One of its core goals is helping youth develop an interest in these activities as well the skills to pursue them. Landon Beevers’ daughter Anala, a 7th grader, was interested in becoming a nurse before attending STEM NOLA. Now, its programs have opened her eyes to a wide variety of STEM fields.
“Now she knows that every science profession is open to her,” Beevers said. “She now contemplates time and space travel for months at a time. STEM NOLA has exposed her to professionals, careers, and opportunities that she never would have had the access (without STEM NOLA).”
Still a Long Way to Go in New Orleans
The New Orleans area, and Louisiana as a whole, lags behind much of the country in its STEM education and job opportunities. A recent study published by WalletHub (https://wallet-hub.com/edu/best-worst-metro-areas-for-stem-professionals/9200/) ranked New Orleans-Metairie as 72nd among the 100 most populous American metro areas for STEM jobs. New Orleans-Metairie and Baton Rouge were tied for 97th out of 100 for lowest math performance on standardized tests in schools.
As of 2019, the Louisiana Department of Education said only 15-18 percent of African-American 5th-8th graders in New Orleans scored “mastery” and above on their math exams. Only 16 percent of all 3rd and 6th graders in New Orleans public schools scored “mastery” or above in science. The stagnant number at 3rd and 6th grade suggests that students are not learning more as they progress through the school system.
Research by The RAND Corporation and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that people of African-American, Latino and Native-American descent earn less than 15 percent of the United States’ science and engineering degrees and hold less than 10 percent of the jobs in those fields despite making up 32 percent of the population.
“This is why STEM NOLA is so critical,” said Dr. Mackie. “We’ve created a STEM engagement ecosystem committed to developing ‘cradle to career’ paths for students in low-income, low-resourced communities by reaching everyone at their level, in order to prepare them for the possibilities and opportunities of the 21st century.”
The WalletHub report noted that the median annual STEM wage is $84,880, compared to $37,020 for all non-STEM occupations. WalletHub stated that software developers are expected to experience the most job growth in STEM through 2028, with an expected increase of 241,500 jobs.
U.S. News and World Report (money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/rankings/best-stem-jobs) released rankings of the best STEM jobs in terms of both median salary and the amount of available jobs. The highest ranking jobs were software developer, dentist, physician’s assistant, orthodontist, nurse practitioner, statistician, medical and health services manager, IT manager, mathematician, and operations research analyst.
Louisiana Universities Encouraging STEM Students
Grambling State University expanded its STEM offerings by offering a bachelor’s program in cybersecurity in 2019 and cloud computing in 2020.
“The cybersecurity and cloud computing programs are especially important for Grambling State University,” said Dr. Stacey Duhon, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Grambling State University. “The world market share for cybersecurity and cloud computing is expected to grow to $248.26 billion and $623.3 billion, respectively, by 2023. These programs will ensure that our students are ready to compete in these job markets as they develop.”
The University of New Orleans has offered STEM scholar transition camps. The one scheduled for 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the camp is an intense one-week program to help freshmen STEM students make the transition to college and learn skills for professional or graduate school.
Tulane University founded its Tulane University Center for K-12 STEM Education in 2006, which serves over 4,000 students and teachers annually, focusing on underserved and minority populations. Over 500 Tulane students, faculty and staff volunteer in the program.
Opened Doors and Exciting Opportunities
Cedric Johnson, a staff architect at Burns & McDonnell currently based in Kansas City, worked in a project management role on the new Louis Armstrong International Airport. Johnson graduated from LSU’s School of Architecture in 2005. Johnson says STEM education was a life-changing experience for him.
“STEM education expanded my way of thinking, how I approached problem solving, and most important, it challenged me,” Johnson said.
A graduate of Amite High School, Johnson said there were no STEM programs geared toward his field of study there. He said he would have greatly benefitted from a drafting course in high school. His interest in architecture was triggered not by a school experience, but by his father, who took architecture classes in college. After finding one of his father’s old floor plans, Johnson decided to study architecture.
Johnson said representation is important for attracting young African Americans to STEM careers. If children see other African Americans become successful in those fields and are able to meet African Americans working in those fields, they will be more likely to pursue those professions. He said students need to have access to STEM education where outside-of-the-box thinking is encouraged, not suppressed.
“We have to do a better job of investing in their education,” Johnson said.
This article originally published in the October 19, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.