Meeting Workforce Demands

Physical chemistry chromatography lab with mass spectrometers
Rendering of Applied Projects Space Room 121
students at configurable lecture hall tables

The Innovation Center will positively affect STEM businesses and organizations through enabling graduates to be workforce-ready. As our alumni move into these positions, their diversity, perspectives, and commitment to living in the Bay Area will widen the scope of the organizations they work for, indirectly helping many people who benefit from the products they generate and the services they provide. The entire Bay Area region will benefit from the employment of local and diverse residents in these industries, boosting the economy and culture of the area. 

 

"California faces a future in which there are too few workers skilled in STEM fields to meet the demand. Many STEM jobs require some postsecondary education, and the state is currently producing too few graduates to meet projected demand…the skills gap now facing the state in STEM fields is cause for concern."

–    Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy, “TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: Meeting California’s Workforce Needs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Fields

 

"The median annual wage of STEM occupations in 2020 was $89,780. This is well over double that of non-STEM occupations (median annual wage was $40,020)."

–    Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employment in STEM occupations Data”; modified September 2021

 

"Our 2019 analysis finds that companies in the top quartile of gender diversity on executive teams were 25 percent more likely to experience above-average profitability than peer companies in the fourth quartile."

–  McKinsey & Company  "Diversity Wins | How Inclusion Matters"

 

"The representation of women, blacks, and Hispanics holds pocketbook implications for workers. STEM jobs have relatively high earnings compared with many non-STEM jobs, and the earnings gap persists even after controlling for educational attainment. Among workers with similar education, STEM workers earn significantly more (on average) than non-STEM workers."

–    Pew Research Center 2018 report, “Women and Men in STEM Often at Odds Over Workplace Equity”

 

"STEM occupations are projected to grow over two times faster than the total for all occupations in the next decade."

–    US Bureau of Labor Statistics 2019-29 employment projections

 

 

Contact Associate Vice President of University Development Anjali Billa to learn about naming opportunities and to become a donor to the Science & Engineering Innovation Center: anjalibilla@sfsu.edu or (415) 405-3625.