Career Pathways for STEM Technicians

This 307-page Career Pathways for STEM Technicians PDF book offers a practical solution to America's technician shortage in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Career Pathways for STEM Technicians was written and compiled by Dan Hull, Executive Director of the National Center for Optics and Photonics Education (OP-TEC), with twenty two contributors, including eight chapters from different STEM technology fields. 

The book presents a solution to two problems: 1) there are not enough technicians to support continued technological innovation or to staff the organizations that could improve America's security and economic position in the world; and 2) there are not enough adequate educational opportunities for students interested in entering careers as technicians. This book "outlines the need and presents information required for an educational reform that will prepare more young people for meaningful and exciting careers in numerous fields that employ lasers and optics technology."

The following chapters are included: Our Country's Technology Edge is Fading Quickly, Curriculum and Teaching Strategies for STEM Technicians, High School STEM Initiatives, Creating Career Pathways for STEM Technicians, Dual Enrollments Role in STEM Pathways, Secondary/Postsecondary Programs of Study For Photonics Technicians, Secondary/Postsecondary Programs of Study for Biomanufacturing Technicians, Secondary/Postsecondary Programs of Study for Information and Communications Technicians, Secondary/Postsecondary Programs of Study for Biotechnology Technicians, Secondary/Postsecondary Programs of Study for Nanotechnology Technicians, Secondary/Postsecondary Programs of Study for Microsystems Technicians, Secondary/Postsecondary Programs of Study for Materials Technicians, Secondary/Postsecondary Programs of Study for IT Convergence Technicians, Commentaries on CPST: Required Changes, Issues, and Strategies, and Creating Successful CPST Partnerships: Leadership Roles and Challenges.