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.