A close look at American unemployment statistics reveals a contradiction: Even with unemployment at historically high levels, large numbers of jobs are going unfilled. Many of these jobs have one thing in common–the need for an educational background in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

A few years ago, four hundred hiring executives of major corporations were asked the question, “Are students graduating from school really ready to work?” The executives’ collective answer – NO! The study clearly showed that students graduating from secondary schools, technical colleges, and universities were lacking basic skills and a large number of basic applied skills:

• Oral and written communications
• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Professionalism and work effort
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Working in diverse teams
• Applied technology
• Leadership and project management

Currently, there is what is referred to as a “21^st Century skills gap” based on reports from around the world. The term 21^st Century skills is generally used to refer to certain core competencies needed for success in the knowledge age, such as: collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem solving. This costs businesses an estimated $200 billion a year or more to find, hire, and train.

Increasingly, one of our richest sources of employment and economic growth will be jobs that require skills in these areas, collectively known as STEM. The question is, will we be able to educate enough young Americans to fill them?

The unemployment numbers have been full of bad news for the past few years, but there has been good news too. While the overall unemployment rate has slowly come down to May’s still high 8.2 percent, for those in STEM occupations the story is very different. According to a recently released study from Change the Equation, an organization that supports STEM education, there are 3.6 unemployed workers for every job in the United States. That compares with only one unemployed STEM worker for two unfilled STEM jobs throughout the country. Many jobs are going unfilled simply for lack of people with the right skill sets. Even with more than 13 million Americans unemployed, the manufacturing sector cannot find people with the skills to take nearly 600,000 unfilled jobs, according to a study last fall by the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte.

These changes could ultimately cost our students and our nation the competitive edge. The competitiveness and wealth of our corporations, country, and citizens depends on having a well-educated workforce. In the 2006 report called, “Learning is Earning”, it was reported that improving a country’s literacy rate by a small amount can have a huge economic impact on the nation. Not only does it improve the nation, it also increases the earning power of potential workers. An additional year of schooling can improve a person’s lifetime wages by 10% or more.

For 50 years, Technical Training Aids has partnered with the top manufacturers in the Career and Technical Education market to deliver products to our customers that are industry relevant and engaging for students. We have successfully aided high schools, middle schools, technical colleges, and universities in our 10 state territories: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

This year Technical Training Aids of Georgia has extended our reach into the K-12 educational market. We have some of the most innovative curriculum and instructional tools to teach engineering design, robotics, STEM, and advanced technologies available today. Our mission with this effort is to assist schools to keep pace with rapidly evolving technologies and information in order to provide every child with the competitive edge in the future workforce.

Technical Training Aids understands the importance of equipping teachers with the tools needed for today’s students.  Our innovative STEM products help prepare students achieve the new age of knowledge needed for tomorrow’s careers.  Click the link below to find out more about our STEM products…