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Community colleges drive rebound in higher ed enrollment

Aug 20, 2024
Training in high-tech and the skilled trades are attracting students' interest the most.
Veronica Tay, a laboratory technician at Middlesex Community College.
Carrie Jung/WBUR

How one Oregon summer camp is using music to help teens explore STEM careers 

Aug 9, 2024
What do science, technology, engineering and math have to do with mariachi music? Mariachi STEAM camp is using the music to show young people — especially Latino youth — the opportunities available in different professions. 
From left to right, Oregon high school students and Mariachi STEAM camp violinists Dulceluna Cebrera Gomez, Keili Piña Cisneros and Isabel Uribe-Jensen practice in July.
Kyra Buckley

Could getting more tech employees in classrooms help college students stick with STEM?

Oct 28, 2022
It's not common for companies to be involved with teaching freshmen-level courses. A new program in Chicago is trying it out.
Alejandro Martinez, left, and Nate Beasley listen to an M1 employee through Zoom in a class at Illinois Tech.
Stephanie Hughes/Marketplace

Boosting American innovation might involve immigration reform

Jul 12, 2021
Experts say U.S. progress in STEM fields is closely tied to immigration policy.
Congress is worried the U.S. is losing its technological edge. Experts say immigration reform is the answer.
Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images

U.S. falls out of top 10 in measure of innovation

Feb 3, 2021
When Bloomberg launched the rankings, America was first. Now South Korea leads the pack.
An engineering student works on a robot. Engineering is one of the fields in which the U.S. lags, according to the Bloomberg Innovation Index.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A workforce crisis hurting women, especially mothers

Jan 22, 2021
Women left their jobs at a far greater rate than men in 2020. What does this mean for the economy?
Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code, says the new administration should press companies to bring back female employees who have left the workforce.
Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company

Limits on work visas could send more jobs overseas

Jun 23, 2020
Trump's executive order restricting foreign workers could have unintended economic effects.
A medical scientist runs a test at a University of Washington lab. The H-1B visa freeze affects jobs in science-related as well as other fields.
Karen Ducey/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

The economy could use more storytellers

Oct 21, 2019
According to some economic heavyweights, it's time to get back to words and stories.
English majors in University are down 25.5% since the financial crisis.
Win McNamee/Getty Images

The most and least "valuable" college majors

Aug 26, 2019
Bankrate.com ranks a range of STEM majors as most valuable based primarily on median salary and the unemployment rate of graduates.
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A science teacher works with students in a high school in Homestead, Florida, in 2017.
Rhona Wise/AFP/Getty Images