U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced today her education agenda to encourage more youths, especially women, to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and to encourage the development of computer science career education programs that meet the market needs of employers.
“New York is home to some of the greatest colleges and universities, a world-class workforce and innovative career opportunities,” Senator Gillibrand said. “But if we’re going to keep our competiveness in the global economy, and keep our skilled workforce in the region, we must prepare our students with the education they need for the jobs of the future. That starts with getting more talented students from diverse backgrounds into the STEM pipeline at a younger age, expanding engineering education, and developing programs that will introduce students to the many career opportunities in computer science. We are relying on our children today to be the innovators of tomorrow. It’s our job to make sure they are prepared.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 2020 1 in every 2 STEM jobs will be in computing and there will be 1.4 million jobs in computer science and only 400,000 students with a computer science degree. Despite these opportunities, most states do not offer computer science courses as part of their core curriculum in math and science and have focused on offering technology literacy or computing application courses.
Gillibrand’s proposed Computer Science Career Education Act, would establish a grant program to encourage the development of computer science career education programs that meet the market needs of employers and better integrate secondary and postsecondary education. Grants under this program would be awarded to a consortium between State or local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, non-profit organization, and employers in the computer science sector.
Chris Stephenson
CSTA Executive Director