Shirley Collier said the state?s technology work force needs to be replenished.
“We have a perfect storm brewing: low supply and high demand,” said Collier, chief executive officer of wireless optical networking company Optemax and a nationally known speaker.
She?s referring to a lack of qualified students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and math, aka STEM, statewide.
“Roughly half the population of NASA could retire now,” said Chris Scolese, NASA?s associate administrator.
Northrop Grumman Corp. officials also reported more than half of their workers will be eligible to retire in the next five to 10 years.
Collier, Scolese and more than 100 business and educational leaders recently gathered at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in Howard to discern why so few students are entering these careers.
They are also members ofthe Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics Business and Education Coalition, which creates curriculum and programs to prepare students to meet industry goals.
Why students aren?t entering STEM fields is the “million-dollar question,” said Army Col. Kenneth McCreedy, Fort Meade commander, who said STEM education is needed for jobs arriving at Fort Meade due to the Base Realignment and Closure process.
Experts have said students simply are distracted by the value entertainers and celebrities place on having a lot of money.
Students see STEM fields as for “others” or only for a “small, narrow” group of “nerdy” people, said Donald Langenberg, chancellor emeritus at the University System of Maryland.
“This is not a problem for the schools ? it is the community?s challenge,” McCreedy said. “That means our newspapers, businesses, government, popular culture must … partner with our K through 12 schools, our community colleges, and our four-year universities and graduate schools.”
jkowalkowski@baltimoreexaminer
