Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Technology sectors in the United States continue to face a widening workforce skills gap and declining STEM workforce pipelines. Up to 2.4 million unfilled jobs in these sectors are predicted by 2028. In Minnesota and the upper Mississippi River Basin, workforce surveys identified the need for more than 1,000 electronics technology positions by 2026. As businesses transition to electromechanical equipment, and apply automation and smart manufacturing, skillset requirements for workers shift, creating a skills deficiency in candidate and incumbent workers. Rural businesses have additional challenges in building a skilled workforce, including a lack of success at attracting females, underserved/underrepresented populations, or Native Americans into their workforce. The recent impact of a viral pandemic has also highlighted a need to address blended and distance instructional delivery to reach these workers of tomorrow. This project will support the regional need for electronics technicians through a dual-credit Introduction to Electronics Certificate that allows students to obtain high school credit and college credit simultaneously. The Certificate will support entry of high school students, college students, and adult workers into electronics pathways by providing courses that meet requirements of associate degree programs.
The overarching goal of the project is to expand the pipeline of skilled technicians into electronics technology careers. To do so, this project will create a replicable certificate program that bridges the gaps between K-12 schools, post-secondary institutions of higher education, and the manufacturing sector. The project will support: 1) a sustained pipeline of workers through a dual enrollment Introduction to Electronics Certificate with articulated paths to Associate of Applied Science programs; 2) mediated and distance learning materials with simulation, blended delivery, and portable lab modules; 3) a Culture Change Model, drawing on multiple regional influencers for support and action research by educators, industry, vendors, and peer academic colleges; 4) faculty professional development on training technologies and manufacturing industry needs; 5) a diversity outreach strategy for females, underserved/underrepresented and Native American populations into electronics; and 6) collaborative relationships with four-year institutions to further develop career pathways in electronics. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
