Why is Everyone so Obsessed with STEM?

By Caroline Ward

November 2022

“We need women in stem”, is something that has been repeated to me countless times throughout my time spent in the Melrose Public Schools system. The idea of pushing more kids into STEM careers has become extremely encouraged in Melrose Public Schools over the past 5 years. I think excessively encouraging students to pursue careers in STEM, makes students who are uninterested in STEM feel less important. While thinking about this increasing amount of importance placed on STEM at MHS over the past few years, I found myself asking the question; Why is everyone so obsessed with STEM?

Most students at MHS have had the same experience regarding STEM classes. From as early as 6th grade, administration has carefully plucked through class rosters, choosing kids with high scores on beginning-of-the-year assessments and a quick understanding of subject material to take accelerated math classes. The term “smart math” has been adopted by many students throughout both MVMMS and MHS in regard to the accelerated math class students take. Math was the first and only class in middle school where an accelerated course was offered, and even then the opportunity to take this class was not open to all students. In order to be “eligible” to take accelerated math, students had to maintain an A average in their math class, and score higher than 85 on the beginning of the year assignment, along with fulfilling a lengthy list of other requirements.  By the end of middle school, there are fully formed groups of students who are deemed “accelerated learners'' and others who are simply not. All of this is based solely on students’ ability to do well on a beginning of the year exam in 6th-grade math. 

In high school, students are offered honors classes in the liberal arts; however, kids who excel at STEM are still years ahead of these students. This system allows students who are taking accelerated STEM classes to gain a leg up for college applications, as well as a more advanced understanding of the subjects that they are taking classes in. When MVMMS math administrators pick out 6th and 7th graders to be a part of compacted math classes they end up pushing these chosen students one or two years past the rest of their peers (in math levels), giving them an unfair advantage. As a graduating 8th grader, taking 8th grade math, I was able to graduate middle school with solely middle school math credits under my belt, while some of my best friends who were in compacted math or “smart” math were graduating from eighth grade with one or two high school math credits. Students who decide to challenge themselves in STEM classes once they enter high school will still be at least a year behind in math than the students who were deemed “mathematically gifted” at the ripe age of 12 and got the chance to take harder math classes in middle school. 

I am not in favor of this system however, I am not proposing that it should be stopped,but I think it’s only right for the middle school to offer compacted classes starting in 6th grade for classes other than math, in order to give students who don’t excel in STEM the opportunity to challenge themselves and feel like they are in the “smart class” in a subject. In high school, students have the opportunity to sign themselves up for honors classes, (instead of being picked to take these classes by teachers), however there are still an influx of more opportunities available to students who excel in STEM.  Students who are gifted in STEM have the opportunity to take AP science and math classes as early as 9th grade, and although there are AP level history classes offered to students freshman year, students are not allowed to take an AP level English class until their junior year. By then it feels like too little too late. Students who excel in STEM have the opportunity to rack up AP credits in sciences in math for years before students who excel in areas outside of STEM are even posed the opportunity to.

Along with the accelerated courses offered to students who excel at STEM, MHS has implemented different pathways for students to fulfill, in order to gain special cords and recognition when they graduate. The most popular among the pathways offered are the GEM pathway and the STEM pathway. Although the STEM pathway is specifically geared towards pushing students into taking STEM classes and electives, GEM revolves primarily around world languages and community service. The Visual and Preforming arts pathway exists, however it is primarily focused on elective classes that count as an art credit such as advanced painting and graphic design. There are a few electives available to students who excel in writing based work but there is no “pathway” specifically designed, pushed or promoted that gives students who excel in their English and Writing based classes, the opportunity to use their brain and dip into any creativity that they may possess while being challenged and recognized for it.  

As a senior at Melrose High , completely uninterested in pursuing any type of STEM related career, I had to work extremely hard to feel confident about my future due to constant repetition of phrases similar to “all the money is in STEM” and “good luck finding a job”.  The narrative that the only way to be truly smart or successful is by pursuing a career in STEM has been so far pushed that the majority of people believe it is true. I’m not saying going into a STEM career does not offer various opportunities for success (it certainly does), but STEM is not the only career path that offers a bright future, therefore people should stop insisting that it is. As a result of the abundance of programs, pathways, and special opportunities offered to students who are interested in or excel in STEM, I’ve observed students who are not talented in those areas begin to feel less intelligent and less important. I can recall countless conversations that I have had with adults, telling me that it’s a mistake to not go into a STEM career because of the opportunity offered in that field. The subconscious thought that I was ignorant for not pursuing STEM, even though it was something that I had absolutely no interest in deep down, haunted me because of the words of those around me, and the STEM curriculum and pathways that have been pushed so relentlessly at MHS. If half as much of the focus that has been put on students who excel in STEM was put on students who are talented in other areas, more students would have a better idea of what they want to start a career in. By motivating students to follow their passions or pursue fields that they are talented in (other than STEM) students will feel more secure about their future. In my earlier years of high school, if an adult had told me that pursuing a career out of stem was possible, and could still be successful doing so,  I might have felt more security and motivation instead of a feeling of impending doom whenever thinking about what my future holds. 

Trying to push students into a field that offers large amounts of success isn’t wrong, however, making it seem more important than other subjects or career paths is. I am all for trying to diversify careers that are filled with old, cis-gendered white men, however pursuing a career in STEM is not the only career that offers students opportunity for success. I am not suggesting that we should be taking away any focus from STEM, however I am proposing that an equal amount of focus is placed on other areas of study as well. By giving other areas of studies at MHS (more specifically the liberal arts) even half of the attention and focus that is put towards stem, more students will be given motivation, opportunities and an overall feeling of importance. Constantly offering more challenging classes for STEM-based subjects and choosing to only separate students who excel at STEM and deem them (STEM students) as better students, is not a productive practice in the long run, and only further propels the idea that pursuing or being interested in liberal arts is useless, making students who are not interested in STEM feel like less than their peers. Degrees in the libreal arts (or other areas outside of STEM) may seem less straightforward, but graduating students should be happy in their chosen career paths, and still feel fulfilled, encouraged ,supported and challenged if their natural skill set is not STEM related. Instead of pushing students out of their interests in humanities and into STEM, schools should be giving all students support and providing them with advanced opportunities in order for students to meet their full potential and fulfill their own unique personal career aspirations.