Military Provides Alternate Path to STEM Careers

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05/10/2019 Added

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Funded by the National Science Foundation, research shows the military provides an important path to science, technology, engineering and math fields.

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[00:00:00.780]NSF funded research
[00:00:02.150]at the University of Nebraska Lincoln
[00:00:03.990]and the University of Alabama Huntsville
[00:00:06.420]suggests the US military provides an important path
[00:00:09.770]to careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
[00:00:13.550]The so called STEM fields, especially for women.
[00:00:17.040]Initially, we wanted to find out
[00:00:18.450]whether there is a connection at all
[00:00:20.230]between military service and STEM degrees
[00:00:22.680]or occupation outcomes.
[00:00:24.370]What our findings show is that yes,
[00:00:26.080]there is a strong connection especially for women
[00:00:28.600]with military backgrounds.
[00:00:30.310]Recruiting workers into STEM fields
[00:00:31.970]has been a long goal dating back to at least the 1950s.
[00:00:35.660]Efforts to recruit young adults and children into STEM
[00:00:38.410]have often been described in terms of creating a pipeline.
[00:00:41.750]Traditional stem recruitment focuses
[00:00:43.800]on younger age groups,
[00:00:45.020]including elementary and high school students,
[00:00:47.720]but those efforts have had mixed success.
[00:00:50.500]By middle school we already observed
[00:00:52.410]gender and racial disparities in STEM interest.
[00:00:55.640]Moreover, we know that people swerve into
[00:00:58.270]and out of STEM fields over time,
[00:01:00.050]making the pipeline and misnomer
[00:01:01.800]that overlooks the multiple pathways into STEM.
[00:01:05.040]Because the US military prominently features STEM skills
[00:01:08.500]in recruitment and training,
[00:01:10.170]we wanted to see whether military service
[00:01:12.400]would provide an alternate pathway into STEM careers,
[00:01:15.710]especially for underrepresented groups.
[00:01:18.140]Our analysis suggests that it does.
[00:01:19.970]Our students who are active duty military personnel
[00:01:23.039]get exposure to STEM skills and experiences.
[00:01:26.260]For instance, West Point cadets host middle school
[00:01:29.290]and high school students
[00:01:30.760]for Center for Leadership and diversity stem workshops.
[00:01:34.270]These events expose underrepresented minority students
[00:01:37.520]to the military and develop practical skills
[00:01:39.920]related to STEM.
[00:01:41.380]Plus, our research shows
[00:01:43.070]that all veterans are more likely than civilians
[00:01:46.030]to enter STEM fields, even without college degrees.
[00:01:50.270]This is especially true for women
[00:01:52.140]with military experience.
[00:01:53.920]They are more likely to go on to college
[00:01:56.090]and earn a degree in a STEM field
[00:01:58.110]and the odds are higher,
[00:01:59.630]They'll work in a STEM occupation.
[00:02:02.000]About one in five civilians earns a BA,
[00:02:04.960]get one in four people with military experience too.
[00:02:07.860]And if you look at women serving in the military,
[00:02:10.230]it becomes just one in three.
[00:02:12.830]Overall women with military experience or 41% more
[00:02:16.930]likely to earn a STEM degree than are comfortable civilians.
[00:02:21.000]Put differently, if you imagine 100 civilian women
[00:02:24.060]earning a STEM bachelor's degree,
[00:02:26.170]this becomes a whopping 141 women
[00:02:28.933](gun shots)
[00:02:30.120]with military backgrounds.
[00:02:32.150]Our analysis show that this pattern holds
[00:02:34.160]for women across ethnic groups
[00:02:36.180]though it's most pronounced for Latina and white women.
[00:02:39.870]The US military appears to be an untapped resource.
[00:02:42.790]It's an alternate pathway into a STEM
[00:02:44.700]for college bound and non-college bound individuals
[00:02:48.070]and the key resource for private sector employers
[00:02:50.680]seeking to recruit.

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Military Provides Alternate Path to STEM Careers

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