ATE Impacts 2020-2021

Community colleges, now more than ever, are essential in growing America's STEM-capable workforce. As a key part of the nation's worker-value chain, programs that focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) play a crucial and vital role in our economic future and national security. In a 2017 report, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) estimated that by 2022 there would be unfilled openings of 3.4 million jobs requiring skilled technical workers. And NASEM's 2018 report on Minority-Serving Institutions (MSls) reports that of the over 700 such institutions, roughly 50% are community colleges, and that our nation's MSls play a vital role in producing America's diverse STEM workforce. Finally, the 2019 National Science Board report entitled, The Skilled Technical Workforce: Crafting America's Science and Technology Enterprise, speaks to Victor R. Mccrary, Jr.,PhD the importance of skilled technical workers in both future-proofing our nation's investments in fundamental research, and our ability to compete globally. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program has been a leading champion in conveying the importance of STEM skills at the community college level, and a leading funder for developing these skills for our country's future technical workforce. Coming on the heels of the aforementioned reports, this ATE Impacts book showcases key activ­ ities and outcomes of the ATE program, and the technical career opportunities for workers with the needed skills, training, certifications, and experience without the need for a four-year degree. Employers, educators, and policymakers may all discover aspects of the ATE program within, to adapt or adopt in their work. As the NSF celebrates its 70 th anniversary in 2020, the ATE program is a point of pride. NSF investments in ATE initiatives are developing the skilled technical workforce, strengthening re­ search in technician education, and improving the interface between secondary schools, commu­ nity colleges, and four-year research institutions. As NSF looks forward to the future, we applaud its continued commitment to the ATE program and its inextricable contribution to NSF's mission of fundamental research, economic development, and national security for the United States of America. Victor R. Mccrary, Jr.,PhD, National Science Board Member Vice President for Research and Graduate Programs and Professor of Chemistry University of the District of Columbia