Summary

Across the world STEM (learning and work in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) has taken central importance in education and the economy in a way that few other disciplines have. STEM competence has become seen as key to higher productivity, technological adaptation and research-based innovation. No area of educational provision has a greater current importance than the STEM disciplines yet there is a surprising dearth of comprehensive and world-wide information about STEM policy, participation, programs and practice.

The Age of STEM is a state of the art survey of the global trends and major country initiatives in STEM. It gives an international overview of issues such as:

The individual chapters give comparative international analysis as well as a global overview, particularly focusing on the growing number of policies and practices in mobilising and developing talent in the STEM fields. The book will be of particular interest to anyone involved in educational policy, those in education management and leaders in both schooling and tertiary education. It will have a wider resonance among practitioners in the STEM disciplines, particularly at university level, and for those interested in contemporary public policy.

Choice Review

Offering a timely and comprehensive survey of global trends and major initiatives in countries across the globe, this book delivers a well-researched series of reports germane for anybody in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) policy, leadership, or research. The principal aim of the book is to promote understanding and learning through global perspectives on STEM policy, history and trends, practice, and data to both widen and deepen understandings of the potential for STEM to impact society. The initial chapters of this edited volume set the stage by addressing key STEM-related issues, such as women in STEM, curriculum, teachers and teaching, cultural perspectives, innovation, and partnerships. Chapter 2 makes an important contribution to the field by offering a lens on comparative international data while casting doubt on widely accepted myths underpinning the potential of the promotion of STEM as a stand-alone policy to transform economies. Subsequent chapters are essentially national reports, representing a range of challenges and perspectives across such countries as Korea, China, the US, the UK, Russia, Australia, and Finland, among others. Taken as a whole, this book offers much-needed cultural and comparative perspectives on STEM, and it stands as a rigorous and rich resource for those in STEM fields. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students through professionals and practitioners. --David M. Moss, University of Connecticut