Despite push for STEM teachers, parents more apt to encourage children to pursue engineering, computer careers, new ASQ survey finds
Though 90 percent of parents in a recent survey said they would encourage their children to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM), 87 percent of those surveyed also said they would be concerned if their child opted to pursue a K-12 STEM teaching career.
Just 9 percent of surveyed parents would encourage their child to seek a STEM teaching career.
When it comes to STEM careers, surveyed parents identified engineering (50 percent), doctor (41 percent), and computer/IT analyst (27 percent) as their top three preferred careers for their children.
The results come from an online survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of ASQ in January among 644 parents of children under 18 living in the household.
The Harris Poll, conducted in advance of National Engineers Week, Feb. 21–27, determined parents’ perceptions about STEM careers and teaching, in particular. Celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2016, ASQ has more than 14,000 member engineers who say they are concerned about ensuring a highly skilled work force and educated engineers for the future.
The results are surprising, given the emphasis President Obama has placed on the nation’s need for high-quality, well-trained STEM educators to help students sustain an interest in STEM subjects.
In 2010, Obama introduced a national campaign to recruit and prepare 100,000 new effective STEM teachers by 2021 in order to spur higher science and math achievement among American K-12 students.
Next page: What another survey revealed about teachers and STEM teaching careers
A separate survey of K-12 educators conducted by ASQ revealed that 29 percent of surveyed educators would encourage their own children to pursue a STEM teaching career. However, 74 percent would encourage their child to pursue engineering, 44 percent would encourage their children to pursue a career as a scientist, and 33 percent would encourage their child to pursue a computer/IT analyst career.
“While STEM careers like engineering and software development are getting more well-deserved attention in recent years, it’s STEM teachers who will equip our youth with the knowledge and skills to gather and evaluate evidence, make sense of information across a wide range of fields, and solve tough problems,” said ASQ CEO William Troy.
Teacher pay could be an issue
According to both polls, surveyed teachers and parents expressed a number of concerns about their child pursuing STEM teaching as a career.
According to the Harris survey of parents:
- 70 percent of parents surveyed by Harris and 77 percent of educators polled by ASQ worry their child may not make enough money as a teacher.
- 69 percent of parents surveyed by Harris and 82 percent of educators are concerned that STEM teachers may not be compensated enough for their heavy workloads.
- 65 percent of parents say that a STEM teaching career may not be worth the cost of a college degree.
- 67 percent of educators polled by ASQ say that STEM teaching positions may not offer a path for career advancement.
Financial incentives would make STEM teaching more attractive to parents and educators. According to the Harris survey, 55 percent of surveyed parents said they would be more likely to encourage a STEM teaching career path if STEM teachers were better compensated.
Fifty-one percent of surveyed parents would be more apt to steer kids toward the career if more college scholarships were available for students pursuing STEM teaching degrees.
According to the ASQ survey, 67 percent of surveyed educators would be more likely to encourage a STEM teaching career path if STEM teachers were better compensated and 68 percent would encourage their children to pursue STEM teaching if there were more opportunities for career growth.
Surveyed educators said they believe a math or science degree should be required to teach those subjects to better educate children. According to the ASQ survey of educators, 80 percent say they strongly believe that a math or science degree should be required for teaching those subjects in K-12 classrooms and 84 percent said that having a specific STEM degree would improve the quality of K-12 STEM teaching.
For more on President Obama’s initiative to train STEM teachers, click here.
Material from a press release was used in this report.
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