Global STEM Education Center, Inc -GTEC - Global Technology & Engineering Consortium - Global STEM Education Center, Inc -GTEC - Global Technology & Engineering Consortium

The Global STEM Education Center, Inc 501(c) (3) non-profit corporation (www.globalstemcenter.org) brings together K-12 and institutions of higher education, as well as business and industry partners to contribute to developing the 21st century global workforce. Our programs enable the next generation workforce to be effective in and with other countries/cultures in solving the problems urgently confronting the world’s populations and working successfully across global cultural differences. Our programs engage students from elementary school through higher education in authentic international science, engineering and technology (STEM) learning experiences.

A little bit of history. We were honored to join the GLOBE in 2014 after a great conference presentation at NSTA and successful completion and participation in the GLOBE training at Woods Hole Oceanography Institute.

This is how it all started for our team!

The need and urgency for the development of the next generation STEM global competency have been clearly underscored by Patricia Galloway, former president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, in her book, The 21st-Century Engineer, A Proposal for Engineering Reform, [1] where she writes,

"A solid understanding of globalization is key to an engineer’s success in today’s global society. Globalization involves the ability to understand that the world economy has become tightly linked with much of the change triggered by technology; to understand other cultures, especially the societal elements of these cultures; to work effectively in multinational teams; to communicate effectively—both orally and in writing—in the international business language of English; to recognize and understand issues of sustainability; to understand the importance of transparency while working with local populations; and to understand public policy issues around the world and in the country in which one is working. It will be these fundamental capacities that will enable 21st-century engineers to develop into professionals capable of working successfully both domestically and globally, highly respected by the general public..." (P. D. Galloway, The 21st Century Engineer, A Proposal for Engineering Reform, ASCE Press, 2008)

It is with the realization of this need and urgency, particularly as they apply to engineering education, that the Global STEM Education Center has developed its approach and strategy for the the 21st century STEM workforce.

The uniqueness and strength of the Global STEM Education Center’s approach to the development of the next century global engineer lie in the choice of the population it works with. Multiple studies have shown that cultural differences begin developing in early childhood and continue over the years. Thus the Global STEM Education Center involves students as early as K-12 school years in authentic international STEM learning experiences with continued fostering of students’ development through higher education (@ Global STEM Education Center copyright 2008-2017).

The Global STEM Education Center’s diversity and STEM curriculum and the innovative pedagogy supported by the unique mentorship structure (by professionals and college students) will lead to a generation of STEM workforce with an in-depth, coherent global diversity education and practical training on international STEM projects. By designing, implementing, and evaluating a program for international STEM teams working in common on design projects that are supported by in-depth global diversity instructions, we allow students to experience authentic STEM practice while also supplying them with tools, skills, and knowledge to do so.

A rigorous study of the effects the diversity training may have on the cross-cultural student team performance will allow for further development and refinement of the program, as well as offer solutions for scaling up the program to serve larger numbers of middle, high and college students on track to the STEM professions. Furthermore, this research will provide insight and recommendations for local and international corporations as they tackle the issues of global diversity training for their STEM, management and R&D workforce.