Hora Lands NSF Grant to Further Examine STEM Skills Gap

August 26, 2013

Matthew Hora, an assistant scientist with the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, was recently awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to examine the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – or STEM – skills gap.

The grant, which is for $526,000, will help Hora further examine the alignment between workforce needs and postsecondary curriculum in Wisconsin.

Hora explains that in many industries, the nature of work is changing due to technological advances, global supply chains and rapidly evolving customer needs. But he notes that many question whether or not adequate numbers of students with the skill sets to succeed in the 21st century economy will be available in the coming years.

Considerable attention is being paid to both four- and two-year colleges and universities as a primary venue for workforce development, with a particular focus on improving the alignment between employer expectations and the curriculum in STEM disciplines. 

Hora says that policymakers and the media are increasingly framing this relationship between education and the workplace as one that emphasizes technically oriented vocational training over a traditional liberal arts education or training in the so-called “soft skills,” such as communication and abstract reasoning. But he notes that little is known about the types of skills and competencies that employers actually believe are critical to success in their industries, which raises questions about this approach.

Hora will be addressing these issues through an interview-based study that focuses on the fields of advanced manufacturing and biotechnology in the state of Wisconsin.

Through interviews with over 250 employers and educators, and site visits to 60 companies throughout the state, he aims to shed light on the precise state of the alignment (or misalignment) between the educational sector and industry.

Another goal of the study, Hora adds, is to provide recommendations regarding the curriculum that balances the needs of employers and educators, as well as recent evidence from the learning sciences regarding how to best cultivate both hard and soft skills in students.