Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge

From the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, this issue brief discusses how there is currently a gap between the supply and demand of workers in the STEM labor force. As baby boomers are retiring, there is an increase need for jobs in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields to be filled, but too few students in the United States are training for such careers. In this brief, authors argue that career and technical education is an essential component to fill this much needed gap. Additionally, encouraging students to pursue STEM pathways early in their schooling will help students to acquire the preparation essential for positions in these careers.