Spotlight Online for Employment and Recruiting Professionals, July 21, 2010 

Tim Harman, senior staffing specialist for college relations and diversity at Kentucky-based Ashland Inc., has seen firsthand what he describes as the need to grow STEM majors among many students in the United States, specifically with diverse students.  

“Our demand to hire capable STEM students outweighs the available supply in the United States.” Harman says.  

Harman believes there are multiple factors contributing to this overall drop, including the rigors of a STEM course of study; a gap in pre-college curriculums; and a lack of encouragement by parents, teachers, and mentors toward STEM fields of study. 

While the STEM fields of study are heavy on math and science, Harman says these are the skill sets that should be embraced rather than avoided.  

“Other fields of study are easier and the general population of students tends to move toward subject matters with the least risk to GPA,” he says.   

In terms of curriculum and consistency, Harman says grade school-through-high school curriculums across the United States have huge discrepancies in their emphasis of pre-college STEM-related education. He says this problem runs so deep that it doesn’t exist by a broad state-by-state or public school-versus-private school basis, but rather, these gaps exist between school districts. 

“I believe stronger federal, state, and local support of America’s overall pre-college education system with a focus on STEM can help close these gaps,” he says.  

While consistency is an issue for the curriculum, so is awareness about the STEM fields as career destinations. Harman says many grade school and high school students are not exposed to STEM fields early on as an education or career track. 

“As early as grade school, young minds are inundated with notions of business and marketing,” he points out. “The STEM industry leaders are stewards of innovation and need to continue to improve their marketing as a choice for students. This is a terrific age to engage students and expose them to the idea of STEM fields. Often, once a student has reached college age, they are on a predetermined course of study that is unlikely to change.”   

He points out that it’s important to reach students at these early ages because at the grade school level, many students have no preconceived boundaries, and have a genuine desire to try, learn, and experiment.  

To engage elementary and secondary students in STEM-based activities, Ashland, a global specialty chemical company with operations on six continents, is involved in a number of activities including partnerships with state colleges and local high schools, grade schools, and elementary schools; and community advocacy.  

Harman says Ashland’s success in this area begins with the company’s executive leadership, specifically CEO Jim O’Brien, empowering employees to position Ashland as an advocate of STEM programs through financial sponsorship and enabling employees to take time to engage with students and the community.  

“We also have had great success with the organizations and schools we’ve partnered with,” Harman adds. “I lead coordination of Ashland's resources committed to the events and take pride in playing a role in making great things happen. Our Ashland employees who dedicate their time and energy in sharing their stories and experiences related to STEM are fantastic.” 

Specific events include partnering with the Ohio State University Women in Engineering program to conduct:

• “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day,” an annual event that serves more than 100 girls in fifth and sixth grades from Ohio and surrounding states.
• Engineering job-shadow days, annual events that serve 75 girls in ninth and 10th grades from Ohio area high schools.
• Lunch and learn with professional women engineers, an annual event serving 40 to 60 11th- and 12th-grade girls in Central Ohio.  
 

Ashland has forged other partnerships to conduct programming, including those with:

• The University of Dayton Women in Engineering program for a field trip to Ashland’s corporate offices and research and development lab.
• The Society of Hispanic Engineers for a one-day “STEM Challenge” that serves 40 eighth-grade boys from inner-city schools and includes a day of building bridges from popsicle sticks and a variety of other fun activities.
• Dozens of grade schools, high schools, and colleges across North America that host in-classroom visits by Ashland scientists, engineers, and professionals who encourage students to consider STEM fields.
• Ohio’s Third Frontier program, which promotes STEM fields.
• The United Negro College Fund for STEM activities throughout the United States for 9th-grade African American youth.
• The Urban League of Greater Cincinnati for a STEM college day, which served 300 high school students from inner city schools and brought them to Northern Kentucky University for a one-day STEM workshop. 
 

Harman and his colleagues measure the effectiveness of their efforts through outcome reports supplied by partner schools and Ashland’s employee feedback surveys, and by tracking college-age students taking internships and positions with the company. Ashland’s initiatives are intended to grow the number of students selecting STEM fields of study, which will in turn support its industry’s needs for new, well-educated talent and keep them thriving. Harman says Ashland is making progress on these goals.  

“Our company profile has been raised and resulted in a stronger influx of quality STEM candidates for our needs,” he says. “However, the industries that STEM graduates serve have not seen the increase in supply of quality STEM candidates to meet the hiring demands, and so our overarching goal of improving the whole is still a work in progress. Perhaps one of the bright, young minds who has benefitted from Ashland’s outreach will arrive with the perfect solution.”