Opinions
Today’s Students Stuck in Yesterday’s Programs
SOURCE: U.S.News & World Report By Stan Litow, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs, IBM, and President of the IBM International Foundation As we pass through another celebration of Independence Day, Americans can marvel at the fact that – whether a war for independence, a civil war, world wars or depressions large and small – the history of the nation has been to turn adversity and despair into hope and promise. As we hopefully emerge from the latest economic duress begun a half dozen years ago, we can at least take some comfort from the signs of hope…. Read More »
Continued Push Needed for STEM Training and Education Fund
SOURCE: Diverse: Issues In Higher Education By Lezli Baskerville, President & CEO, National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education Recounting her experiences recently as a child growing up on an isolated farm in North Carolina during the 1940s, Ms. Martin told me that STEM began for her with the chore of picking green tobacco worms off the crop, some of which she kept as “pets” while others were subjected to rigorous “scientific” protocols that she designed herself. This early work would lead to degrees in biology and education from Fayetteville State University and a teaching career that for some… Read More »
Immigration Bill Will Attract Students to STEM
SOURCE: GreenvilleOnline By Chris Przirembel All throughout South Carolina last Thursday, we gathered in recognition of America’s Independence Day, the day a country of 300 million plus immigrants celebrates being one nation. Our Fourth of July celebrations are almost exactly as John Adams envisioned them 237 years ago, “solemnized with pomp, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other.” Some of the proudest among us on this recent July 4th were naturalized citizens (including me), and especially those who may have been celebrating their first Independence Day as American citizens. And… Read More »
Immigration Bill Opens Way for Skilled Workers
SOURCE: News & Observer By Leonor Clavijo All throughout our state, North Carolinians gathered Thursday in recognition of America’s Independence Day, the day a land of 300-million-plus immigrants celebrates being a nation. Our celebrations are almost exactly as John Adams envisioned them 237 years ago, “solemnized with pomp, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other.” Some of the proudest among us this July 4th were new immigrants, many of whom were celebrating their first Independence Day as American citizens. And thanks to the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill passed last… Read More »
Immigration Reform Highlights STEM Education
SOURCE: The Tennessean By Kristin McGraner Every Fourth of July, Tennesseans across the state gather in recognition of America’s Independence Day, the day a country of 300 million-plus immigrants celebrates being a nation. Our celebrations this week are almost exactly as John Adams envisioned them 237 years ago, “solemnized with pomp, shows, games, sports…and illuminations from one end of the continent to the other.” Some of the proudest among us on this July 4 are new immigrants, many of whom are celebrating their first Independence Day as American citizens. And thanks to the bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill passed last… Read More »
Boost Education in Immigration Reform
SOURCE: Chicago Sun-Times By Martin R. Castro, Esq., President & CEO, Castro Synegies Some of the proudest among us on this July 4th weekend will be new immigrants, many of whom will be celebrating their first Independence Day as American citizens. And thanks to the bi-partisan comprehensive immigration reform bill passed last week by the U.S. Senate, millions of others are closer to realizing their dreams of full American citizenship. It boosts the cap on H-1B visas so employers can hire foreign workers to fill vacant high-skilled positions. Secondly, the bill creates a national fund to train more American workers… Read More »
Strengthening the STEM Pipeline
SOURCE: Change the Equation By Maria Cardona, inSPIRE STEM USA Co-Chair America faces an acute STEM jobs gap, and what makes the crisis worse is that we aren’t producing enough students trained in those fields to fill those jobs in the future. STEM-related occupations are the second-fastest growing in the country, coming in just behind jobs in the health care industry, according to a Georgetown University study. And while the nation is expected to have more than 8.6 million STEM-related jobs available in 2018, the National Math and Science Initiative warns as many as three million of those jobs could… Read More »
Let’s Keep Highly Educated Workers Here
SOURCE: Knox News By Lee Riedinger The immigration reform bill being debated in Congress has focused on border security – with good reason – but there’s much more to the legislation for our political leaders to consider. Specifically, one of the most important aspects of this bill highlights a growing educational and economic problem in the United States and offers a win-win solution. High-tech companies across the nation, from giants like Google and Apple to smaller research and development firms, face the same problem: they are not able to hire enough highly skilled workers. The problem begins with a shortage… Read More »
New Hampshire’s Stake in Immigration Reform
SOURCE: Sentinel Source By Jim Roche, President/CEO, Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire New Hampshire has an immense economic stake in the outcome of the debate over the proposed comprehensive immigration reform bill now heating up in the U.S. Senate. We are fortunate to have two U.S. senators representing us in New Hampshire who understand the importance to our state. The pending immigration legislation provides practical steps for expanding much-needed access for U.S. employers to highly skilled tech graduates from other countries and expanding the number of American-born graduates. New Hampshire’s business community acutely feels the need for both…. Read More »
STEM Fund Key to U.S. Global Competitiveness
SOURCE: The Hill’s Congress Blog By John E. Sununu and Maria Cardona, inSPIRE STEM USA Co-Chairs Although the work is not yet complete, advocates for a national fund for science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and computer science education have reason to be optimistic. Washington is well into its much-anticipated discussion on immigration reform, with a proposal for a broad bill under consideration in the Senate and legislation overhauling high-skill immigration recently introduced in the House of Representatives. Both pieces of legislation include a national fund intended to help the U.S. train more of its students in STEM fields and produce… Read More »