Communications of the ACM
'stem Careers' Means Engineering to Parents, Not Teaching
Credit: Career Readiness Institute
Although 90 percent of parents said they would encourage their children to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM), only 9 percent said they would encourage their children to become STEM teachers, according to a Harris Poll survey of 644 parents of children under the age of 18. The poll was conducted on behalf of the American Society for Quality (ASQ). Half of the survey's respondents said they would prefer their children to pursue a job as an engineer, 41 percent suggested a career as a doctor, and 27 percent would advise their children to become computer or information technology (IT) analysts.
ASQ conducted a separate poll among K-12 educators and found 74 percent of respondents said they would encourage students to pursue engineering, 44 percent would promote a role as a scientist, and 33 percent would choose computer or IT analytics for their children; only 29 percent would encourage their own children to pursue STEM teaching. The main cause for concern among parents and educators is their children would not make enough money as a teacher.
Sixty-five percent of parents suggested a career in STEM teaching would not even be worth the cost of a college degree, and two-thirds of educators said STEM teaching would lack a path for career advancement.
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