The Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF), a network of executives and college presidents advancing innovation solutions to education and workforce challenges in the United States, is focusing its efforts on programs that support deeper learning and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. "We're looking to create synergies between these two streams of work," says former Gates Foundation officer Steve Barkanic. BHEF thinks that partnerships and pilot programs involving corporations and higher education can help to cultivate a new generation of STEM students and professionals.
In its first regional workforce development initiative, BHEF helped the University System of Maryland to develop the Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students, which will create a residential honors program focused on cybersecurity skills development. BHEF also is promoting a project at City University of New York in partnership with IBM to create new student pathways in energy sustainability and large-data analytics. "It's an exciting opportunity to use a living environment as a laboratory," Barkanic says.
BHEF's work is helping to make post-secondary science more engaging and applied, which should lead to more STEM graduates.
From Education Week
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