All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the client.The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.
RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RR2115Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif.
© Copyright 2017 American Petroleum InstituteR® is a registered trademark.iii Preface The American Petroleum Institute, which funded this report, is the only national trade association that represents all segments of the United States' innovation-driven oil and natural gas industry. The institute's more than 625 members-including large integrated companies, exploration and production, refining, marketing, pipeline, marine shipping and support businesses, and service and supply firms-provide most of the energy in the United States. The oil and natural gas industry supports 10.3 million U.S. jobs and 7.6 percent of the U.S. economy and, since 2000, has invested more than $3 trillion in U.S. capital projects to advance all forms of energy. Many of the individuals employed in the oil and natural gas industry work in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) sector, and the industry has great interest in understanding the relationship between STEM education and employment, including STEM employment. In addition to the millions of jobs already supported by the industry, IHS projects that between 2015 and 2035, nearly 1.9 million direct job opportunities will be available in the oil, natural gas, and petrochemical industries. This includes close to 707,000 job opportunities projected to be filled by blacks and Hispanics and more than 290,000 jobs projected to be filled by women.In considering the future workforce needs of the oil and natural gas industry and how to attract and retain the best available talent, education and workforce training-STEM education in particular-are critical pieces to the projected industry growth that keeps the United States at a competitive advantage and that provides the energy all Americans depend on. This report analyzes the relationship between postsecondary education and STEM employment in the United States. In addition to being of interest to those in the oil and natural gas industry, this report should be of interest to policymakers, educators, researchers, and workforce professionals concerned with the relationship between STEM education and STEM employment, including the differences for women and for racial and ethnic minorities.This research was spons...