A Bachelor's Degree In Science Moves Graduates Into High Speed STEM Fields

While many teenagers were hitting the beach this summer, a group of high school sophomores and juniors were scheduled to begin sampling local swimming waters for bacteria. The teenagers were participating in a six week internship program at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. They were also there to explore how tiny gene therapy particles that are part of nanotechnology can make their way to tumors inside the body and shut down cancer genes.

In another example, rising high school seniors of both genders spent six weeks of their summer in a Boston University Research Internship in Science and Engineering Program. More than 500 teenagers who has participated in the Boston University summer offering since its 1978 inception. With everyday supplies, such as knitting needles and Legos, students added lasers and motors to design and build a CAT (Computerized Axial Tomography) scanning robot. He also did the software programming.

"It was very different from anything at school," one student is quoted on the program website as saying. "This was all about going out and figuring out how to do something. I had to improvise - it was very intellectually stimulating."

That's the idea behind innovative college and university programs in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects: To stimulate interest in young people so that they might more greatly consider moving onto science, technology, engineering and math degrees. As part of the President Barack Obama Administration's "Educate to Innovate" campaign, schools, organizations and agencies are these days more often partnering to offer progressive programs for students considering or already enrolled in STEM degree programs.

Science, technology, engineering and math degrees come in a variety of specialties and can lead to careers that are expected to see some of the fastest employment growth. Students who major in subjects such as these might work with hospitals, healthcare agencies, and organizations on computer technologies that can improve efficiency and patient care. They might also work on ways to help secure drinking water supplies or to prevent beaches from eroding in storms and rising seas.

Careers in the STEM subjects can also help the United States remain a leader in the areas of innovation and technology. The National Science Board in a report earlier this year noted that China has shown a rise in engineering and natural science degrees, a steep rise as a matter of fact since the year 2002. In comparison, the United States, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom have not had a discernible rise.

Some of today's STEM programs are intended for people that have not had the same exposure to science, technology, engineering and math as some others. Northeastern University's "Connections" program, for example, is for female middle and high school students. At the middle school level female students and Girl Scout troops explore bugs and plants with a microscope, learn how to program a robot using Lego's Mindstorms software and gain hands-on education in engineering and science by building things. There are also programs for K-12 students as well as teachers who have the ability to capture and keep the interest of students. Through Boston University's Project STAMP, for instance, graduate and undergraduate science, engineering, technology and math majors work with area K-12 teachers to develop curricula for their classes.

By reaching out to students and teachers at younger grade levels, both traditional and online college and university programs that offer science, engineering, technology and math degrees are part of what some call a "pipeline" for future STEM degree candidates and professionals. These candidates, once they obtain their science bachelor online or via on campus, can enter careers that many feel are important to the country's, even the world's, future. More importantly, science, engineering, technology and math degree recipients who enter STEM-related fields might find their work exciting, rewarding and a service to the population as a whole.