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Innovation Generation Grants Support Student Achievement in Science and Math, Competitiveness in Knowledge-Based Economy
The Motorola Foundation’s 2008 Innovation Generation grants provide US$4 million to 92 K-12 education programs that are sustainable solutions to strengthening the U.S. position in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) by cultivating a workforce of critical thinkers.
The Foundation's focus on STEM education in the U.S. directly addresses obstacles to achievement by engaging students — particularly girls and under-represented minorities — in the practical applications of the concepts engineers and technologists employ every day at Motorola.
The latest research shows that jobs requiring science, engineering or technical training will increase 24 percent between 2004 and 2014 to 6.3 million.1 The disparity between the growing demand for critical thinkers and the country’s ability to adequately prepare students to fill these jobs has been widening for decades. The most recent global survey of 15-year-olds' performance in science shows 24 percent of U.S. students surveyed at the lowest level of performance — below the level at which students begin to demonstrate the ability to successfully participate in the workforce.2 The lack of skilled graduates in these fields poses a significant threat to sustained U.S. competitiveness in the global, knowledge-intensive economy.
Diversity in these fields also is lagging. In May, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering announced the results of a study funded by the Motorola Foundation that found African Americans, Latinos and American Indians continue to be under-represented in STEM disciplines.
Of 2008 Innovation Generation grantees:
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43 percent target African-American students
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23 percent serve Hispanics
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35 percent engage girls specifically
Beyond funding, Motorola is linking recipients of the Innovation Generation Grants with each other through a company-hosted portal site that expands and enhances the global network of advocates for education in STEM.
Many of the grants also involve volunteer Motorola engineers and scientists, who guide, mentor, tutor and provide valuable insight into the opportunities and excitement of their line of work.
Motorola has provided more than $20 million in funding since 2005 to enable students to invent and learn as part of hands-on, interactive after-school programs, science and math clubs, camps and mentoring programs.
1 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — as cited in U.S. Department of Education Feb. 2006 report "Strengthening Education: Meeting the Challenge of a Changing World."
2 According to the Program for International Student Assessment 2006, a triennial survey conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
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