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There has been a great deal of talk in the educational press lately about STEM – the US government’s acronym for the collective fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. The talk has been both good and bad. The good is that STEM is, after health care, the most rapidly growing field in our economy. Perhaps that’s no surprise, as the entire tech industry is contained within the borders of STEM. The bad, however, is that, for some reason, students are opting out of STEM paths at alarming rates. Researchers have recently noticed a disturbing trend as students move from high school, to college, and into a career: at every single level, STEM-loving students decide they’re finished and move on. If America is going to keep up with the global economy, we’re going to have to address this problem – and fast.