Barnes & Thornburg LLP - Seeking STEM Solutions: The Debate Over Jobs, Education, and Talent

Barnes & Thornburg is making this complimentary video conference available in the Columbus office. Studies concerning science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) preparedness and opportunity make the future seem bleak. The need for high-tech jobs is expected to double by 2018, which might create a shortage of up to three million skilled workers in the U.S.
Every year, however, universities graduate more students with STEM post-secondary degrees than there are jobs available (nearly double), less than half of all STEM workers hold STEM degrees, major employers continue to lay off thousands of STEM workers, and STEM worker pay has been stagnant for at least a decade.
      •So which is it; do we have a shortage or a surplus of STEM workers?
      •Is it possible we have both, and that the challenges we face are more nuanced than the numbers?
      •Is the problem that we need more high-tech jobs to attract STEM workers or do we need more STEM workers in order to lure the high-tech employers and startups?
      •Indiana's shortage is more clear cut than other states, perhaps because of its severity. But what is being done to create more high-tech jobs for the state's top-notch STEM higher-education pipeline?
      •How are high-tech employers dealing with current STEM worker shortages?
      •What's working, what's not, and what's next in the competition for economic strength
Join us Dec. 6, for a special panel discussion in cooperation with the TechPoint Foundation for Youth that will address these questions and more. Breakfast provided.