Engineering Mentors Can Make a Difference
Fact Sheet
- The USA currently produces less than 7% of the world wide Engineering Bachelor degrees
- "The American education system...just is not stimulating enough young people to want to go into
science, math, and engineering." (page 270, The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman)
- FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC) students enter college at a rate of 88%. (Brandeis University study)
- 80% of the schools with an FRC team made plans to increase their engineering classroom
opportunities by the second year of the program. (FIRST robotics)
- School based athletic programs have created an enviable system of developing pro athletes
in the USA. A core part of that system is an extensive coaching stipend program that assures
committed individuals will be compensated in a way that encourages the growth and stability
of the system. They are the undisputed model of how to motivate and involve large numbers of
students and parents.