Published: Friday, February 24, 2012
Guest commentary / Higher education
How will Washington meet its growing need for STEM degrees?
A top Boeing official recently shared this sobering statistic: that 50 percent of Boeing's engineers will be eligible to retire by 2015. Similar and equally frightening statistics pertain to the growing need for engineers in the energy industry, the transportation systems sector, and the civil infrastructure arena.
Another projection shows that by 2018 the state of Washington will have the third largest demand for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) jobs in the nation. Washington is one of only a few states with a significant gap between the level of "knowledge economy" infrastructure and the necessary supply of skilled workers. How will our state fill not only these critically important impending needs, but also help our country regain its technological momentum in an increasingly competitive global marketplace?
Every year, Washington's six excellent four-year institutions of higher education provide thousands of well-qualified graduates in a host of STEM fields, including engineering. But it is clear that the number of graduates being produced by our state's universities and colleges is falling far short of even current needs, let alone projected demand in just a few years.
We could continue to import engineers and other STEM graduates. However, all states are working very hard to develop and retain their home-grown talent; we may not be so successful in future recruitment. And of more importance, why should our state's residents be denied the opportunity to study for these fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs of the future?
To address this continuing problem, some have suggested creating an entirely new and seventh public university focusing on STEM fields. Such an enterprise requires a huge investment of human capital, educational infrastructure, and probably even in the most basic expenses of brick and mortar. In today's poor economy that is not prudent.
Instead, we should build upon established academic excellence and our state's existing STEM programs.
At Western, to help deal with these deficits in STEM education, we hope to launch an aggressive new Engineering program. Western's Department of Engineering Technology has a long history of producing graduates who are both well-grounded in the fundamentals of engineering and skilled in cutting-edge technical fabrication and analytical design technologies. Western already has unique strengths in electronics, manufacturing and plastics. Many Western graduates now work for Boeing and other high-tech industries in the state.
Both the University of Washington and Washington State University have well-established and excellent engineering programs but our state's capacity to produce engineering graduates must increase, and that must happen soon. Western is well-positioned with already established laboratory and design facilities that will be needed for a rapid transition to an accredited engineering program. Western's low-cost, high-return proposal will allow it to help produce the quality engineers needed by our state. With relatively modest support and accelerated authorization, Western's new engineering program could accept new students as early as fall 2012.
Of course Western's proposal to graduate more engineers for the state, as well as other suggestions on ways to meet this unfilled need, require a long-term commitment on behalf of our state. This investment in our state's future is urgently needed.
In these tough budget times the Legislature faces agonizing choices. Our state's future prosperity likely will hinge on decisions made by our state's leaders in the months ahead.
To do nothing more will hamstring the state's future. The high-tech jobs of the future will not go to our citizens but to out-of-state (and, increasingly, international) talent. Our world class industries will look elsewhere for future operations. New industries will shy away. We simply must demonstrate the vision and commitment to make the technical education of our daughters and sons a top priority. With an education-first agenda, Washington will be able to retain and expand its world class technologies, right here at home.
Jeff Wright is the dean of the College of Sciences and Technology at Western Washington University, and formerly the founding dean of Engineering at the University of California, Merced.
Another projection shows that by 2018 the state of Washington will have the third largest demand for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) jobs in the nation. Washington is one of only a few states with a significant gap between the level of "knowledge economy" infrastructure and the necessary supply of skilled workers. How will our state fill not only these critically important impending needs, but also help our country regain its technological momentum in an increasingly competitive global marketplace?
Every year, Washington's six excellent four-year institutions of higher education provide thousands of well-qualified graduates in a host of STEM fields, including engineering. But it is clear that the number of graduates being produced by our state's universities and colleges is falling far short of even current needs, let alone projected demand in just a few years.
We could continue to import engineers and other STEM graduates. However, all states are working very hard to develop and retain their home-grown talent; we may not be so successful in future recruitment. And of more importance, why should our state's residents be denied the opportunity to study for these fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs of the future?
To address this continuing problem, some have suggested creating an entirely new and seventh public university focusing on STEM fields. Such an enterprise requires a huge investment of human capital, educational infrastructure, and probably even in the most basic expenses of brick and mortar. In today's poor economy that is not prudent.
Instead, we should build upon established academic excellence and our state's existing STEM programs.
At Western, to help deal with these deficits in STEM education, we hope to launch an aggressive new Engineering program. Western's Department of Engineering Technology has a long history of producing graduates who are both well-grounded in the fundamentals of engineering and skilled in cutting-edge technical fabrication and analytical design technologies. Western already has unique strengths in electronics, manufacturing and plastics. Many Western graduates now work for Boeing and other high-tech industries in the state.
Both the University of Washington and Washington State University have well-established and excellent engineering programs but our state's capacity to produce engineering graduates must increase, and that must happen soon. Western is well-positioned with already established laboratory and design facilities that will be needed for a rapid transition to an accredited engineering program. Western's low-cost, high-return proposal will allow it to help produce the quality engineers needed by our state. With relatively modest support and accelerated authorization, Western's new engineering program could accept new students as early as fall 2012.
Of course Western's proposal to graduate more engineers for the state, as well as other suggestions on ways to meet this unfilled need, require a long-term commitment on behalf of our state. This investment in our state's future is urgently needed.
In these tough budget times the Legislature faces agonizing choices. Our state's future prosperity likely will hinge on decisions made by our state's leaders in the months ahead.
To do nothing more will hamstring the state's future. The high-tech jobs of the future will not go to our citizens but to out-of-state (and, increasingly, international) talent. Our world class industries will look elsewhere for future operations. New industries will shy away. We simply must demonstrate the vision and commitment to make the technical education of our daughters and sons a top priority. With an education-first agenda, Washington will be able to retain and expand its world class technologies, right here at home.
Jeff Wright is the dean of the College of Sciences and Technology at Western Washington University, and formerly the founding dean of Engineering at the University of California, Merced.
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