Could a Shortage of STEM Instructors in Schools Cost Them the Next Einstein?

Imagine a world that erased Albert Einstein from its history books. The generations that lift their heads to look at the skies will never know about the relationship between matter and energy, black holes, and space/time.

Without him, our younger generations would have never been acquainted with barcodes, GPS and lasers. According to a Harvard economist and the Director of Opportunity Insights, Raj Chetty, our institutions are losing Einsteins on a daily basis.

Chetty’s lab had recently published data that illustrated how we could be missing out on potential breakthroughs and innovations, that according to their findings, should be breaking out from all over the country.

Who Has the Most to Lose?

Chetty’s research stumbled upon a few other surprising findings as well. This included the fact that children who were born in low-income to middle-class households or are students of color, were less likely to become innovators and inventors. Of course, this observation was made in comparison to the small remainder of US students who had STEM instructors in their schools.

Chetty and his associates termed these children as the ‘lost Einsteins’ of their generation because they could have grown up to design highly impactful technologies and inventions. Of course, this would only be possible if they had received the opportunities that they deserved.

Other than this, this research panel also concluded that given how many children are losing out on STEM education, our future generations could be losing out on Marie Curies, Ada Lovelaces, James Wests, and Shuki Nakamuras along with Einsteins.

Why Aren’t We Raising As Many Geniuses Now?

There may be many factors that might combine to produce these forecasted results, but one that really stands out is that the majority of our students are experiencing STEM learning in Pre K-12 and every year that follows.

According to these statistics, the schools that hand out free lunches to students don’t have any additional teaching resources for hands-on science and mathematics. Hardly a quarter of the high schools in poverty-stricken areas offer science and computer classes, where only 8 would offer AP computer science.

A Snowball Effect

A future without bright minds and STEM instructors in schools wouldn’t be well-prepared for the most pressing issues within our society such as food shortages, climate change, economic inequalities, cancer and dementia.

To alter this outcome for a positive future, we will need to tap into the full potential of American communities regardless of their economic status, zip code, gender or ethnicity. Each student should be granted equal opportunity to attain STEM skills.

A Company That Inspires Change

NextWaveStem is an EdTech company that has recognized a shortage of specialized instructors in schools, especially STEM instructors. To help inspire change, we would like to offer schools across the United States an opportunity to hire highly trained instructors to inspire K-12 students in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing, drone coding and so much more.

You could be one of the schools that help nurture an innovator who could change the world as we know it for future generations. We have already partnered with 80+ organizations and schools and through them, our STEM instructors have impacted over 8500 students.

Now it is your turn to make the right decision and contact us by dropping an email at Hello@NextWaveSTEM.com or calling 312-600-8239. You can also browse through our website to learn more about the latest teaching topics and how our services can benefit your students.