Short speech given to bring awareness of the global issue of the need for more students to pursue STEM related degrees.

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STEM DEMAND: THE CRISIS AMONG US
A Speech by George Jenkins
I started thinking about what I wanted to talk about a few weeks ago. I did research trying
to find a good topic which revealed to me some very alarming statistics. For instance, a study
done by UNICEF indicates that over the 5 to 8 minute time interval of this speech, between 105
and 168 children in the world will die from preventable causes. There are many urgent problems
in society from hunger to disease to the homeless. Being an Electrical engineering major myself,
I believe that the solution is STEM. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Math. More college students need to be going into STEM fields now for reasons including
personal career satisfaction, the growing job market, and most importantly, the world needs
innovative young minds to combat the global problems among us. Also there is a lot of resources
and opportunities available to get you to start pursuing your interest within STEM.
First, I would like to discuss career satisfaction. If you have a career that you love what
you do, is it even considered work? The STEM fields offer careers such that you can spend your
entire life dedicated to what you are passionate about. Steve Jobs once said, “If you are working
on something exciting that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed, the vision pulls
you.” Which I feel really reflects my own views on getting a job in electrical engineering.
Getting a degree in one of these areas is not by any means easy. The courses that you are
required to take are hard, you can trust me on that. I’m taking differential equations, engineering
physics 2 lecture and lab, MATLAB, along with this communication class this semester, and is
has proven to be pretty tough. Also, to get the better jobs, master and doctoral degrees might be
needed. The great thing is that after you graduate you will be making a great salary. STEM

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college graduates average much higher salaries than non-STEM majors, and who doesn’t like
more money?
I’ve talked about how going into a STEM field means having a good, satisfying career,
now I want to discuss the job market. STEM covers many careers including biology, chemistry,
computer science, the branches of engineering, physics, and many more. There are numerous
opportunities and varying degrees of education required for these jobs, but the consistency for all
STEM fields is there is in fact jobs. A U.S news and World Report Article suggests that by
2020, the STEM fields will have grown between 24 and 31 percent on average, resulting in a
situation with more jobs than qualified people due to the current STEM college graduation
statistics. Going into a STEM field means being able to find and keep a job after obtaining a
degree. The unemployment rate in the United States is at a steady 5 percent while the
unemployment rate in STEM fields range from 1 to 5 percent according to the United States
bureau of labor statistics. These numbers will continue to go down as a result of the baby boomer
generation retiring from jobs in the STEM fields, especially in engineering.
I’ve talked about how going into a STEM field means having a good, satisfying career
and also the job market, lastly I want to discuss how a career in STEM means being able to better
the world. Scientist and engineers so far in history have made progress to increase the quality of
life in society. If you think, let’s take disease for instance, we’ve made progress by having
vaccinations for things like chicken pox, measles, polio, and even Typhoid fever, but we have a
long way to go with things like Cancer, HIV, Alzheimer’s, and Crohn’s still uncured according
to the CDC, which is the center for disease control and prevention. The International Energy
Agency estimates that 1.2 billion people in the world are without electricity, which is roughly 18
percent of the global population. This comes even with innovations such as wind and solar power

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hitting the market. These smart options of energy may reduce environmental impacts, but they
are not affordable for those who need alternative energy especially in third world countries.
Steve Jobs once said, “The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the
ones who do.” The world needs people, the students of today, to take a stand and continue the
fight for humanity. The concept of a brighter future means the upcoming visionaries must be able
to see through a different lens.
To help you get started, there are a lot of open source information online. MIT, Yale,
Harvard and many others have free online resources for the public to learn about things in these
STEM fields. If you are interested in programming, Arduino is your best bet to get started.
Arduino is open source and you can buy the microcontroller for about 10 dollars and start simple
low cost projects. The line following car costed around 40 dollars. From there you can move on
to much more complex projects and languages. There are programs right here at the college like
VEX or the engineering club that can help get you started. Just getting started and discovering
your passion is the key.
So I have discussed with you today the reason why I believe more college students need
to be going into STEM fields which have included being able to impact the world, the job
market, and you having a career that you are passionate about and satisfied with. As well as
provided information on how to get started in STEM. I in no way expect to convert all of you to
STEM majors, but my intention is for each of you to leave here today thinking about how you
can impact the world and whether or not STEM might be the path for you, thank you.

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Works Cited
Bidwell, Allie. "Report: Economy Will Face Shortage of 5 Million Workers in 2020." US News.
U.S. News & World Report, 8 July 2013. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
CDC. "List of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases." Vaccines & Immunizations. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 03 Sept. 2015. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.
IEA. "Energy Access Database." International Energy Agency. International Energy Agency, 18
June 2015. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.
Jobs, Steve. "Steve Jobs Quotes." Be Your Best Self, Live Your Best Life. Personal Excellence.
Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
UNICEF. "Goal: Reduce Child Mortality." Millennium Development Goals. UNICEF, 7 Dec.
2014. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
Xue, Yi, and Richard C. Larson. "STEM Crisis or STEM Surplus? Yes and Yes : Monthly Labor
Review: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics, May 2015. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.