THE STRATEGY
In 2023 and 2024, SOA’s partners and stakeholders developed the U.S.’s first-ever National Strategy for STEMM Progress and Prosperity with input from more than 1,500 community members through 12 convenings across the nation and five virtual town hall sessions. Now, SOA is focused on implementing the National Strategy with our growing set of partners.
The strategy rests upon a foundation of mutual accountability, partnership, and a shared commitment to data-driven processes. That foundation informs our goals, key metrics, participants, and approaches laid out in the strategy across five pillars:
1. Engagement: Connecting with STEMM early and throughout childhood, in and out of school, is essential to nurturing and harnessing curiosity, exploration, and opening pathways to future opportunities.
Goals include:
Ensure all schools provide rigorous, high-quality mathematics and science coursework with access to necessary learning support.
Provide children and their families with equitable access to high-quality STEMM learning experiences, including in informal and technology-enabled settings.
Metrics include:
All students have access to, and 75% of middle school students enroll in algebra courses by 2030.
All high school students have the opportunity to take calculus, physics and other advanced math and science courses by 2040.
3.5 million more youth participate in out of school STEMM learning experiences by 2025.
6.5 million more youth participate in after-school STEMM learning experiences by 2030.
All Title I schools have access to afterschool STEMM experiences by 2025.
2. Inspiration: The future of U.S. progress in STEMM is dependent on the quality and availability of skilled educators, in both in- and out-of-school learning environments, to educate and inspire the next generation.
Goals include:
End the persistent shortage of STEMM pre-K-12 educators.
Ensure the STEMM educator workforce reflects local and regional demographics.
Reduce the STEMM teacher shortage in the hardest to staff schools by one-third by 2035.
Metrics include:
Reduce the STEMM teacher shortage in the hardest to staff schools by one-third by 2035.
End the teacher shortage by 2045 with an increase in average teacher retention.
Double participation in teacher prep programs by 2035 across all demographics of educators.
Double the retention among all demographics of STEMM educators by 2040.
Provide at least three-quarters of out-of-school STEMM educators with a regular form of professional development, coaching and/or mentorship by 2030.
3. Discovery: Creating opportunity for all in higher education is essential to ensuring that all individuals receive appropriate access to postsecondary resources and opportunities for advancement.
Goals include:
Ensure higher education institutions and their STEMM programs are accessible, inclusive and designed to support the talent development of all people.
Create systems and policies for educating, developing, hiring, retaining and advancing STEMM faculty from all populations across fields of study.
Metrics include:
Cut the enrollment gap between different groups of students in half by 2030.
Cut the degree-granting gap between different groups of students in half by 2035.
100% of R1 and R2 universities adopt evidence-based strategies and practices to improve recruitment, retention and advancement of STEMM graduate students and faculty.
4. Innovation: To maximize innovation, the STEMM workforce must fully tap into the unique brainpower hosted within the U.S.
Goals include:
Ensure researchers from all communities receive tailored opportunities for funding, career navigation and support.
Encourage entities in the STEMM R&D ecosystem to utilize robust plans for envisioning and implementing strategies that are tailored to community strengths and needs.
Metrics include:
Invest $15 billion in research infrastructure and capacity building at HBCUs, TCUs and other MSIs by 2040.
Double the amount of research funding received by HBCUs, TCUs and other MSIs by 2045.
Close the funding gap between different groups of PIs by 2035.
Three-quarters of the top 100 U.S. patent-producing organizations commit to robust and actionable plans improve recruitment, retention and advancement by 2035.
The top 100 U.S. patent-producing organizations actively share their progress on metrics related to recruitment, retention and advancement by 2040.
5. Opportunity: Employers, as well as education and training institutions, must provide workers with sufficient support to enable opportunities for all to participate in and contribute to STEMM innovation.
Goals include:
Remove barriers to identifying, hiring, retaining, developing and promoting individuals in STEMM from all communities across all career pathways.
Ensure workplaces feel supportive for all people.
Metrics include:
20 million new STEMM professionals are added to the STEMM workforce by 2050 reflecting America’s vast talents and backgrounds.
10 million new STEMM professionals are added to the STEMM workforce by 2035.
All STEMM employers commit to transparent job descriptions and career mobility plans by 2025.
All STEMM employers adopt robust plans for recruitment, retention and advancement by 2025.
A strong shared focus on strategic communication is critical to drive success across all five pillars and to shape mindsets about who belongs in STEMM.
Goals include:
Ensure that STEMM professionals depicted in entertainment and media are reflective of the country’s population.
Effectively illustrate the importance of different perspectives in STEMM and how they are critical to achieving excellence in STEMM.
Metrics include:
Entertainment and media depictions of the STEMM field are reflective of the population by 2030
All Americans understand the necessity of a robust STEMM enterprise that includes all Americans as critical to the U.S.’s scientific, social and economic advancement, health and national security by 2040.
SOA partners have measurably improved media and entertainment content that reflects SOA STEMM guidelines by 2035.
Read the full National Strategy to learn more.