Explanation:
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), previously science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET),[1] is a broad term used to group together these academic disciplines.[2] This term is typically used when addressing education policy and curriculum choices in schools to improve competitiveness in science and technology development. It has implications for workforce development, national security concerns and immigration policy.[2] The science in STEM typically refers to two out of the three major branches of science: natural sciences, including biology, physics, and chemistry; and formal sciences, of which mathematics is an example, along with logic and statistics. The third major branch of science, social science such as: psychology, sociology, and political science, are categorized separately from the other two branches of science, and are instead grouped together with humanities and arts to form another counterpart acronym named HASS - Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. Psychology however is considered a major part of STEM, besides the other 2 subjects.[3] In the United States/ United Kingdom education system, in elementary, middle, and high schools, the term science refers primarily to the natural sciences, with mathematics being a standalone subject, and the social sciences are combined with the humanities under the umbrella term social studies.
The change was, in part, instigated at an interagency meeting by Peter Faletra the director from the Office of Science division of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists. The acronym was adopted by Rita Colwell and other science administrators in the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2001. However, the acronym STEM predates NSF which was used by a variety of educators including Charles E. Vela, the founder and director of the Center for the Advancement of Hispanics in Science and Engineering Education (CAHSEE).[4][5][6] In the early 1990s, CAHSEE started a summer program for talented under-represented students in the Washington, DC area called the STEM Institute. Based on the program's recognized success and his expertise in STEM education,[7] Charles Vela was asked to serve on numerous NSF and Congressional panels in science, mathematics and engineering education;[8] it is through this manner that NSF was first introduced to the acronym STEM. One of the first NSF projects to use the acronym[citation needed] was STEMTEC, the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Teacher Education Collaborative at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which was founded in 1998 true to its word.[9]
