Increasing student performance in math, science, and other STEM subjects is an urgent—but often overshadowed—objective for policymakers, often tied to economic growth, international competitiveness, and national security. An effective and robust STEM teacher workforce is critical in providing students access to a strong STEM education.
Yet the STEM teacher workforce is facing strong headwinds as the pipeline of new teachers has been struggling to meet demand. Staffing pressures for STEM teachers have been increasing on multiple fronts over time: dwindling cohorts of graduates from teacher training programs, more classes to cover due to increased STEM requirements in the high school curriculum, and growing compensation for STEM degrees outside of the classroom luring teachers away. This combination of factors is believed to contribute to the staffing problems often observed among STEM teachers, including excessive turnover and low levels of teacher qualifications. Reports of teacher shortages are, often, primarily dominated by STEM teacher shortages, as this specialty (along with special education) accounts for the lion’s share of hard-to-staff vacancies nationwide. These ongoing challenges make a focus on the STEM teacher workforce particularly worthy of policy attention.
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