US’s STEM workforce a national security and econom

American students are often described as falling behind the world in science and math. The reality is more specific. The top students are declining, and the students at the bottom are falling even further behind. And the gap between them is growing wider every year. This is not a ranking problem. It is a systemic problem, and it threatens the country’s economy and national security.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers reports that the United States could lose up to $1.4 trillion in economic output over the next decade if the supply of STEM talent fails to keep pace with demand. The United States Department of Defense reports a shortage of over 20,000 cybersecurity professionals, including 7,000 essential positions.

The data confirms it. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. 15-year-olds scored 502 in science on the 2025 Program for International Student Assessment, above the OECD average. But the same assessment found a 298-point gap between the 90th and 10th percentile of American students. That gap is larger than the OECD average and larger than the gaps in around 78 other systems.

A study by NAEP Science saw the percentile scores by science content areas drop, on average, by around 4 points between 2019 and 2024. What is most shocking is that there is a drop at every percentile band in the study. The entire country is struggling in science.

This gap is visible from the inside. I spent years working in jet engine research, commercial aircraft manufacturing, and national laboratories. Many times I found myself to be the only American in the room. At first, I assumed it was a coincidence. Then I started asking why. What I found was not a shortage of intelligence. It was a failure of motivation. The students who could have become the next generation of engineers were never given a reason to care.

I believe the education system is failing students because it has not changed how it teaches. Textbooks, even digital ones, still rely on memorization. The gamification that has been added is cheap. Answering a quiz question makes a race car go faster. That is not game-based learning. It is a reward system bolted onto the same content. Students do not disengage because they cannot understand the material. They disengage because they cannot see why it matters.

Problem Solving Through Games

There is a solution to this problem, and it begins with changing how students experience science. We connect established science standards to real-world technologies through actual game mechanics. The science is not decoration. It is the mechanism of play. Students do not memorize facts to pass a test.

They apply those science principles to solve problems inside the game. We also introduce career pathways early and often. Students answer preference-based questions and are sorted into career-oriented groups with specific recommended personalized STEM career paths. For example, they can see that a chemical engineer solves global problems and earns a strong living doing something they love.

The question shifts from “why do I have to learn this” to “what problems can I solve?” That shift is the difference between a student who tolerates science and a student who pursues it.

STEM Jobs of Tomorrow

If we get this right, the outcome is a country of passionate, equipped problem solvers. Students will move away from fields that are already being reshaped by artificial intelligence and into the innovation and engineering roles that will define the next economy. They will have the skills to design the systems that keep our country safe.

They will have the confidence to tackle problems that have not been solved yet.

If we do not, the STEM workforce gap will widen. The students who do not engage today will be the workers who are left behind tomorrow. We will continue to import the talent we cannot grow at home. We will fall further behind in quantum computing, hypersonic technology, and advanced manufacturing.

The economic loss will compound. The national security risk will grow. And we will have no one to blame but ourselves, because the talent was here all along. We simply failed to give them a reason to develop it.

Building the Future STEM Workforce

I believe the first step is giving students a reason to look up from the textbook. Parents and homeschool co-op leaders have the flexibility to make that choice. Policymakers need to understand the value of connecting science standards to real-world technology solutions and STEM career paths.

That will help build a future workforce to drive economic growth. Parents and homeschool co-op leaders can ask not which textbook to buy, but which experience will make their children want to learn.

Business leaders can advise that schools teach problem-solving, not just memorization. STEM corporations can partner with us to highlight job opportunities within their industry for students and the positive impacts they are making within our society. Policymakers can fund programs that connect students and science standards to real STEM careers.

The sooner we connect students to their future, the sooner they will put in the effort to succeed. This will lead to a flourishing workforce that will grow the economy by creating new technology startups, growing existing businesses, and attracting giant corporations for relocation. This creates high-paying jobs, which leads to opportunities for upward mobility.

The national security and economic challenges due to the STEM talent shortage will not solve themselves. It will be solved when the people who care about the next generation decide to act.

Hunter Moore is the founder of Plasma Games, an educational platform that uses game-based learning to connect science standards to real-world technologies and STEM career pathways. All opinions are the author’s own.