STEM

Many businesses face a common challenge these days: Finding enough qualified workers for an increasingly technical workplace. According to Code.org, by 2020 there will be as many as 1 million more computer jobs available than there will be skilled applicants.

While attending school at MIT, I was shocked that only 5% of schools in Africa teach ICT, increasing just slightly to 10-12% at affluent primary schools. Nearly all high schoolers never had a chance to learn basic programs such as Microsoft Word. At the same time parts of Africa were becoming hotbeds for technology. For example, many would be surprised to know that Elon Musk was educated in South Africa.

Learning becomes deeper and longer lasting when it involves creativity, discovery and community. That’s why I’m so excited to help support Walmart and the Walmart Foundation in their giving efforts. Through my job as a senior grant manager for the Walmart Foundation, I get to be part of helping organizations like the Scott Family Amazeum, who are working to break down the intimidation factors of STEAM in hopes of inspiring the next generation of engineers, coders, scientists and beyond.

With summer now in full swing, most students’ minds are far from school. But as educators know, students need to be engaged in thinking and exploring year-round if they are to avoid what is known as “summer learning loss.”

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for skilled workers continues to rise and is becoming employers’ favorable choice to replace traditional long-term workers. However, there is a mismatch between the skills that workers can offer and what employers are demanding. This gap impacts not only economies but also hampers the transition to equitable and inclusive societies. Therefore, developing skills among the youth is becoming crucial to ensure the overall improvement of business and society.

This article is part of a series on “solvable problems” within the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Global Engagement Forum: Live takes place this October 10–11, 2018, bringing together leaders from across the private, public, and social sectors to co-create solutions and partnerships to address four urgent, yet solvable problems—closing the skills gap in STEM, reducing post-harvest food loss, ending energy poverty, and eliminating marine debris and ocean plastics.

The Business Intelligence Group today named Novelis and Discovery Education’s Life of a Can initiative Sustainability Service of the Year in the 2018 Sustainability Awards program. The Sustainability Awards honor people, teams and organizations who have made sustainability an integral part of their business practice or overall mission.

To promote digital fluency in the next generation, the Digital Eagles US team successfully co-ordinated and ran monthly coding sessions for students at schools across New York and New Jersey. T

JetBlue today announced a collaborative initiative between the JetBlue Foundation and the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP) to introduce aviation careers to students traditionally under-represented in the field. This summer both organizations are working together to increase awareness of aviation-related careers through hands-on learning for minority students and girls, ages 14-18. Students will learn directly from pilots and other aviation professionals at JetBlue’s airports, hangars and flight training centers in Boston; Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Long Beach/Los Angeles; New York; Orlando, Fla.; San Juan, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.