PAsmart is working to enhance STEM knowledge and skills to provide an opportunity to pursue a wide variety of jobs within and outside of the typical STEM fields. Over the past 10 years, there has been a shift in the use of STEM knowledge and skills outside of those thought of as science and engineering.

Students or job seekers planning education or career paths have many options:

• Technical school or technical training at a 2-year college;
• A bachelor’s degree through some combination of 2-year and 4-year college courses;
• Military service that includes significant on-the-job training and/or education benefits; or
• Employment that provides on-the-job training or through an apprenticeship.

Before, STEM jobs were considered only for individuals with 4-year college degrees.
Today, many technical STEM jobs (PDF), concentrated in the IT, health care, and skilled trades, only need education beyond high school, often in the form of a 2-year degree, license, or certification.

Some of the more common PAsmart career paths include:

• Computer and mathematical scientists
• Biological, agricultural, and environmental life scientists
• Physical scientists (e.g., physicists, chemists, geoscientists)
• Social scientists (e.g., psychologists, economists, sociologists)
• Engineers (e.g. civil engineer, mechanical engineer)
• Health care workers (e.g., physicians, audiologists, nurses)
• Information Technology (e.g. software developer, cyber-security analyst, computer network architect, database administrator)
• STEM-related educators
• Technologists and technicians
• Actuaries and statisticians