Last year we reported on the results of the annual Lemelson-MIT
Invention Index, which showed US teens were very interested in
studying science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields and pursuing careers in these areas. While last year’s survey found that 85 percent of teens were
at least interested in STEM fields, that number has dropped to 77
percent in this year’s survey. Although a large
percentage of US teens are still interested in STEM fields, we’ll need a few more years before we can tell if the decline represents a longer-term trend.
When asked which career fields contributed the most to
society’s well-being, teacher, doctors, and scientists were ranked highest (in that order), and accounted for 74
percent of the responses. Somewhat sadly—for someone
such as myself—engineers garnered a mere five percent of the
responses, a scant three points ahead of politicians and tied with
“other.”
