STEM, STEAM, STREAM: “In Dallas, the Ingredients are Here.”

Dallas-Fort Worth has the pieces—educators, nonprofits, corporations, technology, and the will—to be known as a hub for innovation and technology, our panel agrees. But, to attract and prepare the next generation of world-class talent, we need action.

“Hopefully, we’re all beginning to push this boulder up the hill, together,” DRC’s Drexell Owusu says. Read more in the final installment of our series.

Education matters to business, and a STEM, STEAM, and STREAM education is vital to building the future workforce. In Dallas Innovates’ first two installments of our “Learning Reinvented” roundtable, eight local experts weighed in with their collaborative ideas on the topic. Part One discussed the meaning of STEM beyond the traditional definition, and Part Two shared suggestions for how to implement a STEM mindset in the region.

But what does a community built on STEM actually look like—and what is it going to take to get there?

If there’s an “elephant in the room,” it might be what AT&T’s Sorabh Saxena sees as education’s “hard pivot” to the fun stuff. “We have to start by getting back to the core of science, technology, engineering, and math,” he says. But, what if those “fun” extracurriculars can incorporate STEM? Dallas ISD’s Oswaldo Alvarenga says there may be an opportunity to blend disciplines, something the district has done via its robotics teams.

“You can definitely be involved in sports, but why can’t it be a STEM sport?” he asks.

That could also help with keeping kids involved. As Dallas Country Community College District’s Dr. Jason Treadway points out, if we put a lot of effort into getting kids into STEM, we have to also focus on retention.

And, we need to keep developing a student’s “soft skills”—creativity, learning agility, problem-solving, inquisition, which are just as important as technology, Capital One’s Hilary Jackson notes.

A common theme was approaching STEM through a lens of equity. United Way’s Jennifer Sampson says those experiences have to be available to every kid, no matter what ZIP code they’re in. That’s going to be crucial as we move forward as a region.

“Let’s make sure that we’re very intentional about bringing into the conversation the communities that are usually left out,” Big Thought’s Byron Sanders says. If we want a truly diverse workforce, talkSTEM’s Dr. Koshi Dhingra says, all students have to be involved, from the very beginning.

And, she says, “In Dallas, the ingredients are here.”

That means it’s time to come together as a region, no matter the industry, to make STEM, STEAM, and STREAM matter, our leaders agree.

“There are so many ways that industry can contribute,” SMU’s Dr. Stephanie Knight says. “Don’t just write that check, get involved.”

It starts from within—it starts with people and businesses coming together to cultivate positive change. It is then that Dallas-Fort Worth can continue to become known as a global hub for innovation.

Read more in our final installment of the STEM, STEAM, STREAM: Learning Reinvented roundtable.

 

View the full article by Dallas Innovates.