CRN: Cognizant’s Associate Director of Educational Affairs Says IT Solution Providers Must Take Lead in Inspiring the Next Generation of Technology Leaders

“Solving our nation’s STEM crisis requires all hands on deck,” says Kathryn Nash, following Cognizant’s announcement that its “Making the Future” initiative had awarded 34 grants to after-school, in-school and summer programs at 54 sites across the country, which will touch more than 5,000 students with more than 250,000 hours of STEM-focused activities.

“Education is not a spectator sport. It will require involvement from public and private sectors that include industry, schools, communities and families all working together.” Excerpts:

“Cognizant believes creativity, innovation and STEM education are the key to fueling both the channel and the economy as a whole. Building those capabilities will, in turn, fuel developments in poverty, global health issues, climate change and more.

It isn’t quite as simple as pushing students to do better in math and science classes. Instead, it’s important to foster creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and more through hands-on projects and design-based learning approaches. That approach helps grow confidence and interest in the subjects, instead of pushing the children away. The end goal is fostering employability skills.

Tomorrow’s STEM jobs will place increased demands on new STEM competencies that include not only computer science, but also expanded digital fluency in social, mobile, analytics, and cloud (SMAC). Technical skills are not relevant forever, but transforming an individual into a life-long learner is enduring.

“Making the Future” looks to focus its efforts on young women and under-represented minorities. These programs help make children aware of the opportunities to make a significant impact on our world, which can in turn lead to tremendous economic opportunity for themselves and their families.

It’s about building awareness and recognizing that traditional approaches alone are not meeting the demands of future jobs or preparing a trajectory of success for the next generation of workers. Innovation is about taking something we have done traditionally and improving upon it.”

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