Economic development

According to Margaret Anderson Kelliher of the Minnesota High Tech Association (MHTA), by 2020, Minnesota will need an additional 80,000 to 180,000 people with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degrees to fill newly created jobs and to replace retiring baby boomers. She calls the challenge of finding the talent companies need one of the top issues affecting growth of companies in our state and region, particularly related to technology jobs and basic-science jobs. She says workforce training must be our most important area of focus in order to meet MHTA's goal of Minnesota being in the top five science and technology states in the country.

Since the birth replacement rate won't fill all of these jobs, Kelliher says, we can't afford to lose people along the way. She believes we suffer in the STEM area from the "super-bright student bias," often focusing only on the top students who can qualify, for example, for the highly ranked University of Minnesota's engineering program. But we must also identify people in the middle with good skills and aptitude, who can complete two- or four-year STEM degrees in Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) institutions, are more likely to stay in Minnesota after graduation and can have successful careers.

Kelliher believes we must do a better job of exposing people to the variety of job and training opportunities in STEM fields. That includes bringing people from high-tech businesses into the classroom to tell students and their parents what they do, taking students on tours of high-tech companies and providing more high-tech internships for high school and college students. She discusses several programs outside of the state's postsecondary system providing these opportunities and alternative job skills training.

As a member of MnSCU's board of trustees, Kelliher says the biggest challenge facing the system is its low completion rate for students, whether they are pursuing certificate programs, two-year degrees or four-year degrees. This is expensive for the individual, for the state and for the system, she says. Retaining the number of students who enter the MnSCU system would solve the system's budget and enrollment issues, she asserts.