Selected quotes
Report for the American congress:

“Some federal agencies, such as the NSF, use a broader definition of STEM that includes psychology and the social sciences (e.g., political science, economics) as well as the so-called core sciences and engineering (e.g., physics, chemistry, mathematics). Others, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), use a narrower definition that generally excludes social sciences and focuses on mathematics, chemistry, physics, computer and information sciences, and engineering. Some analysts argue that field-specific definitions such as these are too static and that definitions of STEM should focus on “an assemblage of practices and processes that transcend disciplinary lines and from which knowledge and learning of a particular kind emerges.” Extracted from p.2 (in “What is STEM”)

Australian report based on international comparison:

“The reports commissioned for this project revealed that the discipline grouping, and the term itself, are not used uniformly in international educational policy or practice. For example, in Australia, health professions, agriculture, environment and related fields, and computing, are all typically included within the official ambit of STEM, and appear in some of the tables in this report. The inclusion of agriculture is common but not uniform throughout the world. Practical health fields, such as medicine, are included in some countries, including Argentina, China, Israel, New Zealand, and the United States. In East Asia and in Russia, however, STEM normally excludes health professions. Finland includes geography. Some countries include psychology. Tertiary level analysis in New Zealand includes architecture, veterinary and environmental studies." Extracted from p.30 (in “Definition of STEM”)

Bibliographic indications
“Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education: A Primer”, Heather B. Gonzalez, Jeffrey J.Kuenzi, Congressional Research Service, 2012

“STEM: Country comparisons” , Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA), 2013 - ISBN 978 0 9875798 05

Selected quotes
“Today, there are two STEM economies. The professional STEM economy of today is closely linked to graduate school education, maintains close links with research universities, but functions mostly in the corporate sector. It plays a vital function in keeping American businesses on the cutting edge of technological development and deployment. Its workers are generally compensated extremely well. The second STEM economy draws from high schools, workshops, vocational schools, and community colleges. These workers today are less likely to be directly involved in invention, but they are critical to the implementation of new ideas, and advise researchers on feasibility of design options, cost estimates, and other practical aspects of technological development. Skilled technicians produce, install, and repair the products and production machines patented by professional researchers, allowing firms to reach their markets, reduce product defects, create process innovations, and enhance productivity. These technicians also develop and maintain the nation’s energy supply, electrical grid, and infrastructure. Conventional wisdom holds that high-skilled, blue-collar jobs are rapidly disappearing from the American economy as a result of either displacement by machines or foreign competition. But the reality is more complex. High-skilled jobs in manufacturing and construction make up an increasingly large share of total employment, as middle-skilled jobs in those fields wane. …

The approach used here does not seek to classify occupations based on what workers do—such as research, mathematical modeling, or programming— but rather what workers need to know to perform their jobs. …

The report defines STEM jobs in two ways, the second more restrictive than the first:

{Note of the TVETipedia team: calculation of the knowledge score are explained in the part “Methodology: Measuring the STEM economy} …

1. High-STEM in any one field: The occupation must have a knowledge score of at least 1.5 standard deviations above the mean in at least one STEM field. These occupations are referred to as high-STEM throughout this report.

2. Super-STEM or high-STEM across fields: The occupation’s combined STEM score—the sum of the scores from each field—must be at least 1.5 standard deviations above the mean score. The report refers to these occupations as super-STEM. …

For example, network and computer systems administrators score highly only on computer knowledge and would only be considered a STEM job using the first definition, whereas biomedical engineers score highly in each STEM field and would be considered a STEM job in both definitions. Each definition has strengths and weaknesses. Empirically, workers tend to receive higher pay if they have knowledge in more than one field, which justifies the super-STEM criteria. On the other hand, education and training programs often focus on one specific domain of knowledge, making the first criterion more attractive for practical purposes. …

Previous reports on the STEM economy indicate that only highly educated professionals are capable of mastering and employing sophisticated knowledge in STEM fields. Classifying STEM jobs based on knowledge requirements, however, shows that 30 percent of today’s high-STEM jobs are actually blue-collar positions (Table 1). As defined here, blue-collar occupations include installation, maintenance, and repair, construction, production, protective services, transportation, farming, forestry, and fishing, building and grounds cleaning and maintenance, healthcare support, personal care, and food preparation. …

High-STEM and super-STEM workers are far more likely to have a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field that U.S. workers more generally. This suggests that formal education in a STEM field often leads to a STEM job. Still, a large majority of high-level STEM workers have not earned a college degree in a STEM field. Training and experience are other routes to STEM jobs. ...

Largely through the NSF, the federal government is funding a large number of programs to boost higher-level STEM education, particularly for minorities and women. ... Yet, only a small slice of federal educational spending supports the other half of STEM careers -those requiring an associate's degree or less. The overemphasis on four-year and higher degrees as the only route to a STEM career has neglected cheaper and more widely available pathways through community colleges and even technical high schools.” (Bold in original) Extracted from p.3 (Introduction) p.4 (Methods) , pp.7-9 (Findings) p.22 (Conclusion)

Bibliographic indications
“The Hidden STEM Economy”, Jonathan Rothwell, Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, 2013

Selected quotes
"In the 1990s, the National Science Foundation (NSF) began using “SMET” as shorthand for “science, mathematics, engineering, and technology.” When an NSF program officer complained that “SMET” sounded too much like “smut,” the “STEM” acronym was born. As recently as 2003, relatively few knew what it meant. Many that year asked if the STEM Education graduate program I was beginning to envision had something to do with stem cell research. … Now, nearly everyone seems somewhat familiar with the STEM acronym. And yet, it remains a source of ambiguity. Technology educators proudly lay claim to the T and E in STEM. But so, too, do Career and Technical educators, who (in my home state, at least) seem to have claimed the “E” as their own. Most, even those in education, say “STEM” when they should be saying “STEM education,” overlooking that STEM without education is a reference to the fields in which scientists, engineers, and mathematicians toil. Suffice it to say, STEM is often an ambiguous acronym, even to those who employ it.

The National Science Foundation knows what it means. For nearly two decades, NSF has used STEM simply to refer to the four separate and distinct fields we know as science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics. Yet, some have suggested that STEM education implies interaction among the stakeholders. It doesn’t. For a century, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education have established and steadfastly defended their sovereign territories. It will take a lot more than a four-letter word to bring them together. For those reasons, I am skeptical when I hear STEM education used to imply something new and exciting in education." Extracted from pp.1-2 (Introduction

Bibliographic indications
“STEM, STEM Education, STEMmania”, Mark Sanders, The Technology Teacher, December/January 2009