Getting a definition for STEM is easy enough: it stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. So take a biology class in college, and technically you’re taking a class that’s a part of STEM. However, STEM is much more than just a useful way of grouping subjects in a catchy acronym.

Best STEM Majors

• Petroleum Engineering. Median Salary: $137,330.
• Computer Engineering. Median Salary: $119,560.
• Mathematics & Statisticians. Median Salary: $93,290.
• Aerospace Engineering. Median Salary: $118,610.
• Nuclear Engineering. Median Salary: $116,140.
• Software Development.
• Chemical Engineering.
• Actuarial Science.

Engineering
Engineering: The number of international students choosing engineering as their major—215,290—made engineering the most popular STEM major in both 2017 and 2018. This number represents 19.6 percent of all international students in the U.S. in 2018.

In the US, the Bureau of Labor Statistics includes nursing as a STEM field and STEM-adjacent—but the Department of Commerce’s Economics and Statistics Administration does not. As there are some nuances in the definition of STEM – people have prioritized nursing as a secondary or an adjacent STEM field.

For example, the easiest STEM major, Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology is harder than only 1% of majors….The List of Easiest and Hardest Science Majors.

Additional Options

1. Join a local chapter of a STEM-related club, like FIRST Robotics, or start your own!
2. Enter a science, math, or engineering competition. Competitions are offered by schools, districts, counties, and even most states.
3. Reach out to a mentor.
4. Ask a teacher or librarian.
5. Find a training program.

Highest-Paying STEM Jobs

• Computer Programmer.
• Management Analyst.
• Computer Systems Administrator. Median salary: $82,050.
• Geographer. Median salary: $80,300.
• Genetic Counselor. Median salary: $80,370.
• Psychologist. Median salary: $79,010.
• Agricultural Engineer. Median salary: $77,110.
• Chemist. Median salary:$76,890.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 2019–29 employment projections show that occupations in the STEM field are expected to grow 8.0 percent by 2029, compared with 3.7 percent for all occupations.

Yes, being a doctor is considered a STEM career. STEM, or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, careers have grown at a tremendous rate in the early part of the 21st century and are projected to keep up or exceed this pace in the future.

Our CT-STEM consultations and workshops have helped teachers confidently address the Next Generation Science Standards and equip their students for the future. You can use our lessons to… What is CT? Computational thinking empowers us to frame problems in a way that computers can help us solve them.

Our tried and tested lesson plan are NGSS-aligned, browser-friendly and free. Designed to integrate with conventional curricula, CT-STEM lesson plans can be implemented on their own, or used to supplement lessons that you already feel comfortable teaching.

CT is about learning useful ways to compound our ingenuity with this raw, computational power. Because computation is changing the way we think and learn about the world, understanding and leveraging its abilities has never been a more important skill for students to develop.