Inspiring the next generation of talent to pursue careers in STEM is a national policy objective, an economic imperative, and an opportunity for students to pursue fulfilling, well-paying careers that meaningfully help solve pressing issues affecting our communities. In support of these aims, Pullias’ Joseph Kitchen has partnered with colleagues at Harvard’s Science Education Department as part of a nationwide NSF-funded study to identify promising STEM initiatives that effectively inspire students’ STEM career aspirations. 

Pursuing a lucrative, meaningful career is one important reason why students choose to attend college. Careers in STEM can provide both a well-paying job while also enabling students to leverage STEM knowledge and skills to solve the many challenges that face our communities. Boosting students’ pursuit of STEM careers is also a top priority for policymakers and billions of dollars are spent on STEM education initiatives and interventions with the goal of increasing the number and diversity of students pursuing STEM careers. Despite the considerable work done to prepare students with the skills and knowledge to succeed in STEM fields, the payoff to date in terms of increasing students’ STEM career pursuits has left much to be desired. 

As educators and policymakers consider approaches to increase pursuit of STEM careers, I put forth the following observation: our aim should not be to simply funnel and force as many students as possible into STEM career paths to meet a federal or economic policy objective. Instead, it is apparent that more work needs to be done to truly inspire student interest in pursuing STEM careers. Teaching STEM skills and knowledge in school is important, but apparently not alone sufficient to inspire the next generation of STEM talent to pursue careers in these fields. Inspiration begets aspiration. 

The classroom is one crucial place where learning happens; it is not the only place where learning and inspiration occurs. Stakeholders would do well to acknowledge the greater ecosystem of STEM-related support and opportunities (e.g., museums, STEM career days, summer programs, dual enrollment, local college visits, field trips) that abound and leverage these opportunities to complement the learning going on in the classroom and to inspire student STEM career aspirations. Many researchers have built careers out of exploring various STEM activities and programs and their role in promoting student STEM learning and skills, but what is the role of the greater ecosystem of STEM opportunities in inspiring student STEM career aspirations?

As part of a nationwide study, my colleagues and I surveyed the landscape of various initiatives and programs in the greater STEM ecosystem and examined their respective roles in stimulating students’ STEM career aspirations. As educators consider how to best leverage the full ecosystem of STEM learning opportunities to inspire the next generation of STEM talent, they should consider the following lessons learned from this nationwide study:

• Participation in college-run STEM summer bridge programs, STEM campus visits, college-run STEM clubs for high schoolers, dual enrollment courses, college-run high school STEM summer programs, STEM competitions, and college-run STEM career days each were effective opportunities in the greater STEM ecosystem that significantly increased student STEM career aspirations.
• Well-designed college-run STEM summer bridge programs, high school summer programs, clubs, and career days were effective in inspiring STEM career interest across a diverse range of student backgrounds and experiences. 

Thus, it appears that one promising approach to inspiring greater STEM career aspirations is by proactively brokering opportunities for students to learn and connect in the greater STEM learning ecosystem (e.g., STEM programs, clubs, museums, college summer bridge programs). 

Stakeholders (e.g., colleges, schools, industry) can act as partners and collaborators to create a better coordinated ecosystem of STEM learning opportunities that can be leveraged to truly inspire the next generation of STEM talent. No one STEM initiative or activity, including those noted above, is likely to change the tides of STEM career interests wholesale. But, we should think systemically and beyond the classroom alone to inspire student interest in STEM. 

It falls upon educators, higher education institutions, schools, funders, policymakers, and communities to ensure equitable access to these opportunities to fulfill the promise of education equitably.  More partnerships are needed between stakeholders to coordinate these opportunities and proactively connect students to them—particularly students in our most under-resourced schools and communities. The STEM learning ecosystem is broad and unwieldy; to fully maximize the investment in these opportunities, there also needs to be more centralized resources and networks of support for stakeholders to leverage in order to effectively broker these STEM learning opportunities and inspire STEM interest. Even if a student does not ultimately choose to pursue a career in STEM, they will be making a better-informed choice about their future career path all the while learning more about the world around them through STEM.