As technology transforms every sector of the global economy, it’s more important than ever to provide our citizens with the education and training necessary to put them on a pathway to well-paying jobs and rewarding careers. And that must begin well before college or trade school.
The fact is that, in 2017, nearly every industry is a “tech industry.”
More than two-thirds of all technology jobs are now outside of the tech sector. Health care, sports, medicine, manufacturing, education and financial services all rely on programming to expand their business functionality, productivity or to improve products or services.
Our nation’s schools and workforce-training programs need to align the skills they teach with the jobs that define the modern economy. A cornerstone of our administration’s approach is the integration of coding and computer science into the fabric of not just what we teach, but how we teach.
It’s not simply about learning to use computers, but about the problem-solving skills that come with it.
Last week, President Trump signed a memorandum directing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to prioritize high-quality STEM education, with a focus on computer science, and to make available a minimum of $200 million in annual grants to support this effort.
Then, on Tuesday, I traveled to Detroit to join the Internet Association, Dan Gilbert of Quicken Loans, Marillyn Hewson of Lockheed Martin and leading members of the technology sector as they announced their own $300 million private-sector pledge to advancing computer-science education.
On Wednesday, Microsoft President Brad Smith and I joined Code.org founder Hadi Partovi in Virginia for an “Hour of Code” with the students of Middleburg Community Charter School. We participated in Minecraft coding with fourth- and fifth-graders.
Seeing the enthusiasm and drive of these young people drove home how essential early exposure to computer science is. Yet, just 60 percent of K-12 schools reported having even a single computer-science course, according to a recent poll.
Unfortunately, women’s participation in the technology industry is moving in the wrong direction. Women make up 47 percent of the total workforce, but represent only 22 percent of computer-science professionals, down from 35 percent in 1990.
Given the high and increasing demand for workers with computing skills, it is imperative that all of our students, including women and minorities, have access to computer-science education.
As part of my White House portfolio, I’ll be working closely with the Departments of Education and Labor to close the growing gap between the skills our children and workers need to succeed and the education they are getting.
We will continue to focus on placing our citizens on a pathway to a job — starting with K-12 curricula, but also continuing through vocational, skill-based training and apprenticeship programs, including the re-training of displaced workers.
There’s no silver bullet; rather, we need a comprehensive set of solutions.
Every unemployed, under-employed or discouraged American worker deserves a ladder to financial security and success.
And our children deserve the education and training necessary from the start.
Ivanka Trump is an adviser to her father, the president of the United States.