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Wednesday, November 18, 2009
How I See It
Industry, government, academia make work force strides
MHT's Efrain Viscarolasaga: How social networking is changing business
The Murphy brothers' software-selling family tree
MHT managing editor Rodney Brown on NECN: 22 tech companies give back to community
Do good and you will do well. Many tech companies have been following this practice by being good corporate citizens in the education arena. Some target this sector for strategic reasons, others because their employees want to make sure their children are well educated, and some want to “give back” to the institutions that made them successful. The reality is that tech employers and venture investors need a strong pipeline of new talent in order to launch and grow their enterprises. This pipeline starts in the K-12 education system and continues on at the college level. How these educational institutions prepare and interest students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is of vital concern for tech employers, in both for-profit and nonprofit organizations.
Financial support
Tech employers such as Raytheon, Tyco Electronics, 3M Touch Systems, EMC, Millipore and Cabot, together with the Noyce Foundation and individuals, have helped to underwrite the Design Camp program at the College of Engineering at UMass Lowell. This summer program brings middle and high school students to the campus for several weeks to engage in hands-on engineering design projects. The financial support helps to keep tuition affordable and provide scholarships for disadvantaged students.
Volunteerism
In addition to financial support from tech employers such as Genzyme, Novartis, Biogen Idec, Boston Scientific, P&G, and Abbot, as well as foundations, employees of these and other firms have mentored young women through the Science Club for Girls program. The STEMTech Alliance is composed of Massachusetts’ science and technology associations: Mass Technology Leadership Council, Mass. Biotechnology Council, The Engineering Center, Mass. Medical Device Industry Council and the New England Clean Energy Council. The alliance’s “Digits” program enlists volunteers to help inspire STEM studies in sixth graders.
Knowledge Sharing
For several years the Mass. Biotechnology Council Education Foundation’s BioTeach Initiative helped to provide lab equipment, supplies and teacher professional development to high schools in order to enable students to gain biotechnology lab experience. And the PTC Schools Program has provided no-cost or low-cost design applications and learning programs to enable schools to bring 3-D design experience into classrooms. These are just the tip of the iceberg of tech employer engagement with education. The challenge is how to leverage all this good work into a well-planned statewide STEM talent initiative that will dramatically increase the number of Massachusetts’ students preparing for and graduating with STEM majors.
In June, the Tapping Massachusetts Potential Employers STEM Agenda was announced by business and technology organizations. In October, Gov. Deval Patrick signed an executive order creating a STEM Advisory Council and named Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray as its chair. These two developments offer the best potential in years for both the public and private sectors to develop and execute a strategic STEM plan.
The next steps will be for employers, educators and government leaders to: One, agree on three to five measurable five-year goals for the state’s STEM talent initiative; two, focus on proven strategies and tactics that can achieve these goals; and three, assign responsibility for bringing these to scale. This blueprint will provide tech employers “doing good” with a path for all Massachusetts stakeholders to “do well.”
John F. Hodgman is the Howard P. Foley Professor for High Tech Workforce Development at the University of Massachusetts Lowell College of Engineering and a lecturer in entrepreneurial leadership studies at Tufts University Gordon Institute.
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