Examining the State of the U.S. STEM Workforce: Today and Tomorrow

One of the major STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) debates currently underway today in the United States revolves around whether or not there is, in fact, a STEM workforce shortage in the country.

To further examine the myth versus reality discussion, this year’s Bayer Facts of Science Education survey, the 16th in the series, polled talent recruiters at Fortune 1000 companies both STEM and non-STEM alike, about their companies’ current and future STEM workforce supply and demand needs. We chose talent recruiters as the target for our survey because these are the people on the front lines of the STEM shortage argument.

Several trends emerged in the survey.

1. STEM Degree Holders are ‘As’ or ‘More In Demand’ for both STEM and Non-STEM Jobs.

Today, STEM skills are in demand by employers for jobs that are traditionally considered non-STEM, with demand for two- and four-year graduates equipped with these skills exceeding demand for their counterparts who don’t have these skills.[wcm_restrict]

• Nine-in-10 of the talent recruiters say today (89 percent) four-year STEM degree holders are ‘as’ or ‘more in demand’ than their counterparts without STEM degrees – they believe this will continue to hold true 10 years from now (90 percent).
• The vast majority of talent recruiters say that two-year STEM degree holders are ‘as’ or ‘more in demand’ than their counterparts without STEM degrees today (79 percent) and will be 10 years from now (73 percent).

Diversion of STEM degree holders away from traditional STEM jobs is a real problem for STEM companies. Not only are these companies competing with each other to hire STEM graduates, but now they are facing real competition from non-STEM companies, too. Additionally, within STEM companies themselves, those with STEM degrees are willing to take, and often desirous of, non-STEM jobs to broaden their experience as they seek larger leadership roles; thus, internal competition for this talent is also increasing. This strengthens the argument that we, as a country, must develop a more robust STEM workforce pipeline.

2. Adequate Numbers of Qualified Job Candidates with STEM Degrees are Hard to Find.

Finding an adequate number of qualified candidates with two- and four-year STEM degrees is an issue for many Fortune 1000 STEM and non-STEM companies.

• Only half of the talent recruiters say they can find adequate numbers of qualified job candidates with either two-year (55 percent) or four-year (50 percent) STEM degrees in a timely manner.
• Of those who say they cannot find adequate numbers of qualified STEM job candidates, the vast majority believe it is because there is a shortage of qualified candidates – both two-year (90 percent) and four-year (94 percent) degree holders – who have the necessary STEM job skills.
• Of those talent recruiters who say they can’t find adequate numbers of qualified new hires with STEM degrees, nearly seven-in-10 (68 percent) report their companies have a significant number of open, unfilled STEM jobs for four-year STEM degree holders, while almost half (48 percent) report vacancies for two-year STEM degree holders.

The talent recruiters have essentially presented us with a ‘glass half empty/glass half full’ scenario. However, as talent recruiters, we also need to look beyond the job description and focus on applicants’ core STEM competencies – in other words, what are the ‘transferable skills’ that are being sought in the position. While the landscape of talent has changed, we have not necessarily changed our sourcing processes and requirements. Is a 4 year degree truly a requirement, or could an intellectually agile, fast learner with a 2 year degree be the perfect fit? Must the applicant have an electrical engineering major, or would an engineer with a concentration in industrial, nuclear or even civil disciplines be able to be successful? In adjusting and expanding talent recruiters’ and even companies’ definitions of who possesses the “right” STEM competencies, the successful hiring of STEM employees may become less of a challenge.

3. Underutilization of Available STEM Talent is Still a Problem.

STEM underrepresentation of women, African-Americans, Hispanics and American Indians is still an issue at companies today.

• Very few talent recruiters at Fortune 1000 companies (16 percent or less) are seeing adequate numbers of qualified African-American, Hispanic and American Indian male and female job candidates with two- and four-year STEM degrees.
• While more talent recruiters report seeing improving numbers of Caucasian (33 percent) and Asian (39 percent) female job candidates with four-year STEM degrees than both females and males with these STEM degrees of all the other minorities studied, the numbers are still well below those of Caucasian (67 percent ) and Asian (59 percent) males.

Today, women and these minorities make up two-thirds of the population but only 25 percent or less of the STEM workforce. Further, the minority population is growing and the current STEM workforce is retiring. As demand for STEM degree holders rises and the number of these jobs increase, we will need to attract and retain more women and minorities in STEM. This new data is disappointing. It telegraphs a situation that has not changed significantly over the last decade, signaling the fact that companies still are not tapping a rich pool of STEM talent. This particular issue should start being addressed much earlier than the junior year conversation with the high school counselor.

4. Companies Recognize the Need for Programs to Develop and Attract STEM Talent.

Virtually all the Fortune 1000 companies polled have programs in place to help develop, recruit and retain qualified STEM degree graduates.

• At the four-year degree level, 99 percent offer such opportunities as internships, recruitment programs, summer employment programs, partnerships and co-op programs, and scholarships.
• At the two year-degree level, this number drops dramatically to just 53 percent.

Here is the silver lining. As reported by the National Science Foundation, some 75 percent of the STEM jobs today require a bachelor’s degree or less. At U.S. colleges and universities, companies are working to help develop the qualified workforce it needs and to strengthen the STEM workforce pipeline. Now companies must take the opportunity to do the same with our nation’s community colleges. It is also important that companies take part in improving and expanding science and math education in the elementary, middle and high school levels. All it takes is their willingness and a commitment.[/wcm_restrict][wcm_nonmember]

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About the Author

Laurel Rutledge is the vice president of Human Resources for Bayer MaterialScience LLC. She is responsible for providing human resources strategic leadership to meet the challenges and objectives of the business. The Bayer Facts of Science Education is an ongoing public opinion research project commissioned by Bayer since 1995 as part of the company’s award-winning Making Science Make Sense® (MSMS) initiative. For more information about this survey or other Bayer surveys, please visit www.bayerus.com/msms.