Image Courtesy of New York Times

Atttention American S.T.E.M.(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) majors!

The international community is kicking you $#%&@!..

The problem seems to stem (pun intended) from rising attrition rates,

“40 percent of students planning engineering and science majors end up switching to other subjects or failing to get any degree,”

and that number rises to 60 percent when one includes pre-med majors.

The problems don’t stop there. Despite impressive gains in higher education as a whole (for the first time ever, more women than men received PhDs in 2009), women still lag behind men in S.T.E.M. fields, with the exception of Biology.

While women between 17-18% of Bachelors degrees in engineering and computer science, and around 40% in math and the physical sciences,   they hold a remarkable 58% of all degrees awarded in Biology.

Paula E. Stephan, an economist at Georgia State University says,

“Women historically have been interested in subjects that were less math intensive and that had goals of helping people, and biology and the medical sciences have both of those.”

What are our educators to do?

Many experts recommend redesigning curriculums to focus on hands-on applied learning experiences, rather than rote memorization of formulas in overcrowded lectures.

Arthur C. Heinricher, the dean of undergraduate studies at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, says,

“That kind of early engagement, and letting them see they can work on something that is interesting and important, is a big deal. That hooks students.”