U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is hoping to pass new legislation to encourage more youth, especially women, to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.
“Typically in STEM fields, science, technology, engineering and math, is typically white men, very few women, very few minorities, very few people from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods,” said Sen. Gillibrand, D-New York. “So we want to change that because the point is all of our best and brightest should have opportunities to excel in the fastest growing industries.”
Gillibrand visited Rochester STEM High School on Monday to introduce three new pieces of legislation she said would do this.
The first piece would provide funding through the U.S. Department of Education to help schools implement a rigorous STEM program while also reaching out to women and minorities.
The second piece would require states to make sure engineering design skills are integrated into science standards and provide instructors with the tools to teach engineering.
“This bill will help create grant programs for elementary, middle and high schools,” Gillibrand said. “Schools are encouraged to partner with their local colleges, not for profit, and businesses to bolster innovative STEM curriculum.”
The last piece would create a grant program that would build up the development of computer science education programs.
“The Bureau of Labor says that by 2020, one in every two STEM jobs will be in computing and there will be 1.4 million jobs in computer science with only 400,000 students to fill them,” Gillibrand said.
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren, Monroe Community College President Anne Kress, and Rochester City School District Superintendent Bolgen Vargas were also in attendance. They said they feel getting more students involved in STEM is important, especially here in Rochester.
“The reality is coming here to the STEM High School sets you up for a much better future,” Kress said. “If you major in a STEM field, when you go on to college, you get what’s called the STEM premium and what that means is you face lower unemployment upon graduation, but you also get paid more. You get paid more at the highest premium with a certificate or an associate’s degree from a community college.”
Principal Kathleen Denaro feels the legislation is a good idea.
“One of the things that we really take pride in is the fact that we’re able to reach out to some of our elementary constituents and really build up that pipeline,” Denaro said. “So kids are going from elementary school through high school to college and then careers beyond. So it’s really trying to take a look at building the entire pipeline and fixing it from beginning to finish so that we’re taking measures and steps to fill these gaps that have existed.”
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