Dive Brief:
- AT&T and the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations (CFEF) have joined forces this year to provide local students with real-world, interactive STEM learning opportunities.
- The partnership means 29 Florida school districts will team up with 52 local companies to work on 47 different STEM-related projects.
- Two other organizations, the Motorola Solutions Foundation and CenturyLink, are also teaming up with CFEF to provide similar STEM related opportunities for Florida youth.
Dive Insight:
“We know that industries engaged in STEM disciplines will create a majority of high-value, high-wage jobs and within ten years, almost nine out of ten new jobs will require education beyond a high school degree,” Joe York, AT&T Florida President said in a press release for the project. “We are pleased to make this contribution because Florida’s K-12 education foundations are well positioned to be the link between schools and local businesses for students, enabling them to build connections with potential employers in their communities, get a sense of what careers they offer and the skill sets they require.”
The program couldn't come at a better time. According to CNN Wire, only 2.4% of college graduates earn degrees in computer science-related fields. More specifically, there's a gap between white students with these skills and black and Hispanic students. Code.org reports that of the 3.5 million students who took the AP Computer Science exam in 2012, only 3,000 were black or Hispanic.