The Facts About the STEM Employee Pipeline in Washington State

Washington State is home to numerous world-class technology, aerospace, clean-energy, and biomedical companies. Nevertheless, the pipeline for employees in science, technology, engineering, and math—collectively known as STEM—is broken. The state currently cannot meet the demand for STEM jobs with local talent and must instead import those workers from out of state or abroad. As a result, Washington is missing out on creating critical middle-class jobs for all its citizens, especially women, underrepresented minorities, and those with low incomes. (See  Opportunity for All: Investing in Washington State’s STEM Education Pipeline, BCG Focus, December 2014.)Let’s take a look at the current state of the STEM employee pipeline, the costs and returns of investing to fix it, and the social-equity benefits of creating more STEM jobs in Washington.