It has become somewhat common to read stories or see surveys about the fact that the United States' ranking in scientific and mathematical competency is lower than we would like it to be, or about how the nation's research output is declining. But what is less often discussed are the underlying causes of these trends, and what may be done to address them. One simple solution is to throw more money at the problem, but whether this would result in any improvement proportional to the money spent has yet to be determined. The underlying assumption behind the money-throwing approach is that if kids learn more science and math, things would trickle down through time. When they grow up, they would become part of a more competent, scientifically literate populace that would have more scientists and engineers. The more people doing innovative research, the better for the economy, our country, and the world at large.

A new survey suggests that there may be a much simpler alternative to simply throwing money at the problem. Instead of—or in addition to—just upping funding, the survey discovered that encouraging working scientists and engineers to go out and meet with young people can result in a positive change.

The survey, conducted by the Lemelson-MIT Program, revealed that teens in America have an interest in science, engineering, and mathematics, but a lack of understanding about career paths in these fields is holding them back. The survey also suggests that this lack of knowledge could be easily fixed if those of us who currently enjoy a career in such fields would step up and get out. In fact, almost two-thirds of teen respondents to the survey said that the lack of a mentor would discourage them from entering a science or engineering career.

The interest is there

The 2009 Lemelson-MIT Innovation Index (LMII) found that "an overwhelming majority of teenagers surveyed expressed interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics with 'curiosity about the way things work' as the driving factor for their interest." Of course, "overwhelming" is a useless PR word and has little scientific value, so let's put a number behind it: a full 85 percent of the teens surveyed showed interest in STEM fields. In addition to merely showing interest, 80 percent of those surveyed felt that their schools had sufficiently prepared them—or was in the process of preparing them—for such a career choice.

What is it about these fields that capture the interest of the young? While these careers pay well, by and large, they won't make someone immeasurably rich. (You will rarely, if ever, see scientists or engineers rollin' in a Bently Continental GT Coupe or Aston Martin DB9 while sipping Cristal.) More than half of the respondents reported altruistic reasons for their interest in STEM; 30 percent wanted to help the environment, while another 26 percent wanted to improve society. Less than one-fifth of the respondents cited money or fame as a motivating factor.

The LMII also tried to get a sense of how teens view people in these careers. As an engineer, I could personally be described by the adjective that would first come to the mind of many when they think of the typical engineer: nerdy. Indeed, when I was in graduate school, my wife taught pre-school; she once told me about how she and her co-teacher asked the kids what a scientist looks like. The response from the pre-schoolers was along the lines of "someone who wears glasses and is kind of dorky." But it seems that with a little more perspective on the world, teens have a different view of those in STEM fields. Only five percent of respondents selected "nerdy" as the best-fitting description of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. The majority (55 percent) described them as "intelligent," with 25 percent of the other respondents choosing "successful" as the best descriptor.

So with all the positive attitudes, why aren't these young, interested parties flooding the engineering and science halls of academia across the country? The LMII found that nearly two-thirds (59 percent) of the interested respondents—despite feeling prepared—felt discouraged from pursuing a STEM field career because they don't know anyone who works in the field, or they don't know what these people do. Clearly, young people are interested in STEM careers, but they want to hear from some sort of mentor.

All it takes is you

Students deciding on a path of study can read all the college brochures and talk to professors all day long, but this won't really give them an idea of what truly happens in various fields. It might give some insight into the academic side of STEM, but it won't give them access to the real-world, hands-on experience that those of us working in these fields go through every day. The real solution is for people in STEM fields to make themselves available to talk with interested young people.

Meeting a person who works in a given field is not terribly difficult—any local community college has someone in any number of STEM fields on staff—but actually knowing what kind of work is done in a given area of study is a bit more of an overwhelming task. Speaking as a chemical engineer, I can honestly say that most people have no clue what a chemical engineer does, and they can't give a concise description of what the field even is. (The lack of knowledge of what goes on in STEM fields, engineering in particular, is something I have covered in the past.)

At last year's AAAS meeting I attended a lecture series about marketing engineering where various people spoke about different initiatives and efforts that would allow engineering—specifically the four engineering societies (Chemical, Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical)—to educate the public about what engineers do. To overcome this dearth of knowledge, the group produced the slogan "Engineers make a world of difference." Whether that slogan alone will incite people to flock to engineering careers is open to debate, but the entire premise behind the drive highlights the fact that, for the most part, what people in STEM fields do is not always clear to outsiders.

Many of us in STEM fields often don't know what's involved in bringing science to young people, so to help out in this regard I have been in contact with a variety of programs that do science outreach with a focus on various fields. At the end of this article, I'll list contact information for each of the groups discussed, so that if one of them seems up your alley, you can let them know you want to help out. It should come as no surprise that we at Nobel Intent are big supporters of outreach programs, and many of us have participated in them personally throughout the years. I first did this formally while an undergraduate at the University of Delaware.