THE PROBLEM
According to The White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) and The US Department of Education 2016 Report:
The United State is not producing enough STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine) graduates to fill the more than 1 million jobs that sector will create in the next decade
4 in 10 US jobs are at high risk of being replaced by robots & automation
Report suggests 38% of US jobs will be automated by the early 2030s
There is an 83 percent chance that artificial intelligence will eventually takeover positions that pay low-wages (under $20/HR)
The most affected will be Minorities from the Working Class
How does all this relate to the State of California?
According to the California Department of Education 76 % of the students enrolled in California are Minorities and only 17% of them are Math proficient enough to enroll in the STEM fields. This could have a long negative economic impact on their future as they will be forced to take on low paying non-technical careers as the private sector and business community are attributing more value to skilled technical jobs.
According to a US Department of Education Study in 2013, here are the main reasons why Minorities struggle with Math and Science:
Students have negative experiences or perceptions of institutions and workplace context or climate
Inadequate Academic Advising and Career Counseling (In a Cultural Context)
Inadequate Institution Support (In a Cultural Context)
Feeling of Isolation in STEM fields because of too few peers, role models and mentors are
available for them
[i] CDE, C. E. (2016, December 01). California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Results. Retrieved April 14, 2017, from
[ii] Chen, X. (2013). STEM Attrition: College Students’ Paths Into and Out of STEM Fields (NCES 2014-001). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC
OUR SOLUTION
We want to increase the number of Math Proficient Students in California by 30% and reduce their attrition rates by 20% each year so that more students can be equipped to have careers in the STEM fields after graduation.
Train or upgrade the technical skills of the current workforce
Consequently, in the future California will have a population with a highly skilled and technical workforce
How are we going to do it?
By Creating Partnerships between Educational Institutions, Municipal Institutions and the Private Sector (Tech and Manufacturing Companies) we will:
Organize Educational Events for Schools and After-School Programs to help their Students identify career paths in the STEM fields.
Create Educational Programs to increase the math and science proficiency of K-12 students
Create Higher Educational Programs to train or upgrade the technical skills of the current workforce
Bridgeline Academy is an exempt organization as described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.