Policy Options to Promote DoD-Defense Industry Collaboration in STEM Education and Workforce Development Programs, Activities and Outreach

The need to build and sustain a clearable STEM-competent workforce to support defense missions now and in the future is undeniably important, and across the defense enterprise there are many activities underway aimed at doing so. But the collective impact of these activities is currently unknowable. 

More broadly, across the nation there exists a plethora of STEM education-related initiatives, programs, and organizations of all types that individually address aspects of the STEM educational lifecycle from pre-kindergarten through post-secondary education and extending to re-skilling and up-skilling of workers to meet evolving needs. In addition, new STEM initiatives are routinely announced at national, state, and local levels to address perceived gaps in current educational systems and pathways. 

Even so, this study concluded that there is a compelling case for action by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Defense Industrial Base (DIB), and an urgent need to bring coherence to activities already underway while building a joint strategy to shape future initiatives.