Skilled Technical Workforce (STW) Resources

The National Science Board (NSB) Task Force on the Skilled Technical Workforce was charged with identifying the opportunities and challenges facing students, incumbent workers, businesses, educators, and others involved with the skilled technical workforce (STW) and recommending to the NSB strategies to strengthen the STW. Estimates suggest that there are over 16 million skilled technical jobs for workers with an associate degree, or similar level qualification, rather than a four-year degree.

The National Science Foundation’s mission includes a mandate to support science and engineering education programs at all levels and technical education and training at associate degree-granting colleges.

We invite you to explore NSB’s current and past work on the STW, including the 2015 report which called for building a STEM-capable U.S. workforce, our 2018 policy brief, listening sessions we’ve held with students, faculty, employers, and policymakers in different regions of the U.S., and other activities, including congressional testimony by STW Task Force Chair Victor McCrary.

For information on the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics’ policy neutral initiative on Skilled Technical Workforce data please see: https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/stw/skilled-technical-workforce.cfm.

Activities

Reports

Courtesy: NSB STW STEM Unemployment Graphic

The STEM Workforce is Resilient, Even During a Global Pandemic

THE SKILLED TECHNICAL WORKFORCE: Crafting America's Science & Engineering Enterprise One Pager

THE SKILLED TECHNICAL WORKFORCE: Crafting America's Science & Engineering Enterprise Report

Our Nation's Future Competitiveness Relies on Building a Stem-Capable U.S. Workforce: A Policy Companion Statement to Science and Engineering Indicators 2018

NSB Skilled Technical Workforce Listening Sessions

NSB's Skilled Technical Workforce Task Force held a listening session at the Advanced Technological Education Principal Investigators' Conference, Oct. 25, 2018.

NSB's Skilled Technical Workforce Task Force held a listening session at Florence - Darlington Technical College, Sept. 26, 2018.

Credit: Photo by Lance Long; courtesy Electronic Visualization Laboratory, University of Illinois at Chicago

NSB's Skilled Technical Workforce Task Force held a listening session at NSF's Community College Innovation Challenge, June 12, 2018.

NSB's Skilled Technical Workforce Task Force held a listening session at Macomb Community College, Apr. 19, 2018.

NSB's Skilled Technical Workforce Task Force held a listening session at Baton Rouge Community College, Oct. 26, 2017.

Congressional Activities

Victor McCrary, Chair of NSB's Skilled Technical Workforce Task Force, was on the Congressional Black Caucus Technology and Infrastructure Development Task Force panel on “Blue Collar STEM: The Future of the U.S. Workforce.”

Victor McCrary, Chair of NSB's Skilled Technical Workforce Task Force, testified before the House Subcommittee on Research and Technology on "Mentoring, Training, and Apprenticeships for STEM Education and Careers."