STEM and our future transportation leaders.

Details

• Creators:
  Amekudzi-Kennedy, Adjo ; Akofio-Sowah, Margaret-Avis ; Brodie, Stefanie ; Xu, Yanzhi ; Leous, Audrey ; Curtis, Valerie
• Corporate Creators:
  Georgia Tech Research Corporation
• Corporate Contributors:
  Georgia. Dept. of Transportation. Office of Research ; United States. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Education K-12 Outreach Pipeline Replenishment Recruiting STEM Students Transportation Careers
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA-GA-14-08
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Georgia ; United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  Georgia. Dept. of Transportation. Office of Research
• Abstract:
  Between 2012 to 2022, 40 to 50 percent of the transportation workforce is expected to
  
  retire taking valuable knowledge with them. State Departments of Transportation (DOT)
  
  are expected to play a significant role in replenishing the workforce pipeline by raising
  
  awareness about transportation careers, providing internship and apprenticeship
  
  opportunities, supporting workforce development programs and research, implementing
  
  mentoring programs for new workers and emerging leaders, and supporting partnerships
  
  with education and workforce organizations. STEM development is considered a critical
  
  priority in the state of Georgia and the nation at large to preserve science and technology
  
  efficacy and promote economic competitiveness. This report reviews state DOT involvement in transportation‐related science, technology, engineering and mathematics
  
  (STEM) outreach programs and identifies opportunities to engage kindergarten through
  
  high school (K‐12) students in STEM programs to enhance their interest in the
  
  transportation field. Both theory and empirical evidence show that STEM has academic
  
  and behavioral benefits, and that students exposed to STEM are more likely to choose a
  
  career in STEM. Information on DOT involvement in STEM programs was gathered from
  
  the literature, DOT and other websites; a targeted online survey administered to DOTs
  
  and University Transportation Centers that have hosted STEM outreach programs; and
  
  semi‐structured phone interviews conducted with selected survey respondents to gather
  
  additional information on their programs. Results show that over 40% of state DOTs are
  
  involved in K‐12 STEM outreach programs: most commonly residential or non‐residential
  
  summer programs, teacher training and curriculum development programs, internship
  
  and shadow opportunities, one‐day STEM awareness events, and periodic employee visits
  
  to schools to present on transportation‐STEM. A business case analysis conducted shows
  
  that agencies will benefit from including both longer‐term and shorter‐term alternatives
  
  in their STEM programming to cultivate STEM efficacy and build long‐term relationships
  
  with a smaller percentage of students while increasing STEM awareness broadly among K‐
  
  12 students. Such strategic programming will contribute to developing a pool of students
  
  for future recruitment to replenish the transportation workforce, while enhancing STEM
  
  culture within the agency.
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  RP 14-08
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:64204c0d4037a6f174160eb6e0c42a5f1a2a347d8612337b4815cece83c0f771
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/31067/dot_31067_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.84 MB ]