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Print Edition StoriesWednesday, January 7, 2009
MIT: Most teens interested in tech careers, need mentors
By Brendan Lynch
MHT managing editor Rodney Brown on NECN: 22 tech companies give back to community
MHT Editor Doug Banks on NECN: Decoding the Gen Y workforce
A majority of U.S. teenagers feel optimistic about their chances for careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) — but many of them lack the mentors needed to do so, according to an MIT study.
Eighty-five percent of teenagers surveyed by the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index expressed interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Eighty percent said they feel their schools have prepared them to pursue a career in these fields, should they choose to do so. Of those surveyed, 44 percent said “curiosity about the way things work” drove their interest in the fields. Fifty-six percent chose “protecting the environment” or “improving our society” as reasons to enter the STEM fields, as opposed to the 18 percent who chose the field to become rich or famous.
Only five percent of teenagers surveyed chose “nerdy” to describe engineers and mathematicians, with 55 percent choosing “intelligent,” and 25 percent choosing “successful.”
Still, 31 percent of the teenagers said they may be discouraged from pursuing a career in STEM because they don’t know anyone who works in the fields. Twenty-eight percent said they did not understand what people working in these fields did.
The Lemelson-MIT Invention Index is an annual survey conducted by the Lemelson-MIT Program, gauges Americans’ perceptions about invention and innovation.
Last month, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study found that, competing as a state against whole countries, Bay State eighth graders tied with Singapore for first place in science in a worldwide test of math and science aptitude in fourth and eighth grades.
In addition to leading the eighth-grade science category in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, commonwealth students placed second (behind Singapore) in fourth-grade science, third in fourth-grade math and sixth in eighth-grade math.
The test was administered by Boston College in April and May 2007 to 3,600 students attending 95 randomly selected schools in Massachusetts.
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