STEM BRIEF 2021

SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO IN STEM

Here are the things to know about Science,Technology, Engineering, and Mathematicsindustries and careers in Massachusetts in2021. The opportunity is greater than ever.

STEM Jobs are Vital to the Economy

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TABLEOF CONTENTS

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These are Good Jobs and MoreAccessible Than You Think

The Need is Growing

Massachussets is Making InvestmentToday to Prepare for the Future of STEM

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STEM JOBS ARE VITALTO THE ECONOMY

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Massachusetts outpaces the U.S. average in concentration of STEM jobs.According to employment estimates fromthe U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about600,000 people work in STEM occupationsin Massachusetts. STEM workers make upone-fifth (21%) of the Commonwealth’slabor force, higher than the U.S. average of 14%.

1 IN 5 WORKERS IN MASSACHUSETTSWORKS IN STEM

STEM jobs are resilient in the labor market.Between 2018 and 2020, the number ofMassachusetts STEM jobs have contractedmuch slower than non-STEM jobs. Thissuggests that STEM occupations are betterable to withstand economic shocks.

WHAT ARE STEM JOBS? Science, technology, engineering, and math(STEM) occupations include computer andmathematical, architecture and engineering,healthcare, and life and physical scienceoccupations, as well as managerial andpostsecondary teaching occupations relatedto these functional areas and salesoccupations requiring scientific or technicalknowledge at the postsecondary level.

18% OFMASSACHUSETTS’SRECENT ECONOMIC

GROWTH ISACCOUNTED FOR BY

STEM ACTIVITIES.

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STEM-heavy industries are driving Massachusetts’ recent economic growth during the pandemic. Massachusetts’s economy grew by 6.9 percent from 4Q 2020 through 1Q 2021 (October –March), as measured by the increase to Growth Domestic Product (GDP). This growth wasled by the professional, scientific, and services industry, which has the highestconcentration of STEM jobs across all industries. A breakdown of sector-level contributionto GDP growth suggests that STEM activities account for one-fifth (18%) of Massachusetts'recent economic growth.

The Growth Domestic Product (GDP) is anestimate of the economy’s total value for a

given time. It estimates the value-add to theeconomy by aggregating the monetary or

market value of all finished goods and servicesproduced. Economists measure the health ofthe economy by looking at changes to GDP. A

fast-growing GDP is generally good, as long as itdoes not overheat the economy and raise

inflation.

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WHAT IS GDP?

18%

THESE ARE GOOD JOBS AND MOREACCESSIBLE THAN YOU THINK

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STEM occupations are found in almost every industry in Massachusetts. Though often associated with science and technology, STEM jobs encompass a broadrange of industry sectors. For example, one in five manufacturing jobs in Massachusetts isa STEM job; one in seven management jobs is STEM; and one out of every seven post-secondary teaching jobs is a STEM job.

STEM OCCUPATIONS BY INDUSTRY SECTOR IN MASSACHUSETTS 2020

IndustrySector

STEM EmploymentCount

Total SectorEmploymentCount

STEM Jobs as% of Sector

Professional, Scientific, and Technical ServicesHealth Care and Social AssistanceInformationManufacturingManagement of Companies and EnterprisesWholesale TradePublic AdministrationEducational ServicesFinance and InsuranceUtilitiesAdministrative and Support and WasteManagement and Remediation ServicesRetail TradeOther Services (except Public Administration)ConstructionReal Estate and Rental and LeasingArts, Entertainment, and RecreationTransportation and WarehousingAccommodation and Food ServicesMining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas ExtractionTOTAL, ALL INDUSTRIES

148,900212,34030,18046,30010,78016,41025,08046,59018,3001,260

11,26012,1502,1302,7906505201,010900586,740

344,910605,94091,050230,91070,570117,380190,880362,900167,28011,590

174,370311,63092,310150,12045,45041,380105,120234,4001,0103,349,200

43%35%33%20%15%14%13%13%11%11%

6%4%2%2%1%1%1%0%0%

Source: CommonwealthCorporation analysis ofMassachusetts EconomicResearch Department, ExecutiveOffice of Labor and WorkforceDevelopment, OccupationalEmployment Statistics IndustryStaffing Pattern

Healthcare sector holds the greatest number of STEM jobs at 212,340,while the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services sector hasthe highest concentration of STEM jobs (43% of the sector is STEM).

WHICH INDUSTRIES EMPLOY THE MOSTSTEM WORKERS IN MASSACHUSETTS?

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STEM earning potential increases over time. The medianannual pay for STEM jobs at the entry-level is $28,000higher than the average across all industries. Thispremium increases to almost $40,000 among experiencedworkers. Hourly, STEM median pay is at $50/hour,compared to $33/hour, averaging across all industries.

Massachusetts STEM occupations are good-paying jobs. STEM jobs on average earn $30,000 more than the average pay for a typical job inMassachusetts. Every industry sector within STEM outperforms the median annual wage ofthe workforce as a whole. Management-track STEM jobs earn the most.

A worker in STEM occupations earns onaverage $30,000 more than the average annual

pay across all industries in Massachusetts. WHAT IS THE TREND IN EARNINGPROGRESSION FROM ENTRY TOEXPERIENCED LEVEL?

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Not all good STEM jobs require a high level of education but getting a college degree helps. Roughly one-fifth of entry-level STEM jobs do not require abachelor’s degree. Around 10% of jobs are available to thosewith post-secondary credentials, which can be earned in ashort-term training program. The median annual wage for anAssociate’s degree is ~$65,000, whereas the median wage forBachelor’s degree is ~$95,000. There is a noticeableimprovement in earning potential by getting a college degree.

STEM OCCUPATIONS BY TYPICAL EDUCATION LEVEL NEEDED AVERAGES, 2020

Education LevelDoctoral or professional degreeMaster's degreeBachelor's degreeAssociate's degreePostsecondary certificateHigh school diploma or equivalent

# STEM Jobs87,85029,130348,52057,32057,31010,470

% of STEM Total15%5%59%10%10%2%

Median Wage$114,494$98,222$95,064$65,915$55,153$54,858

Entry Wage$76,336$68,820$64,786$48,053$41,648$38,936

Source: Commonwealth Corporation analysis of Massachusetts Economic Research Department, ExecutiveOffice of Labor and Workforce Development, Occupational Employment Statistics

of entry-level STEM jobs donot require more than an

associate’s degree or post-secondary credentials.

THE NEED IS GROWINGTHEME 3

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The demand for STEM jobs willgrow in the near future, relativeto other types of jobs. Growth in STEM jobs will outpaceaverage job growth – and isexpected to account for 40% ofincrease in total employment inthe Commonwealth. This meansthat STEM will only become moreimportant to the Massachusettseconomy.

According to the 2018-2028 jobgrowth projections, STEMoccupations will grow at 7.2% vs.3% across all occupations.Furthermore, the speed at whichSTEM jobs will increase hasincreased with each successiveprojection. However, the aggregatesize of the labor force is projectedto contract slightly.

STEM jobs account for

of the increase in totalemployment through

2028 in MA.

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Massachusetts in-demand STEM occupations span healthcare and computer occupations.Both groups are estimated to add ~27,0000 jobs according to the 2018-2028 projection. Inaddition, these jobs take the longest time to fill an empty job posting. Massachusetts isamong the states with the highest demand for STEM occupations, adjusted for Populationacross the U.S.

Massachusetts is among thestates with the highest demandfor STEM occupations, adjustedfor population.

NUMBER OF JOB POSTINGS: BY STEM OCCUPATIONRANKED BY NUMBER OF JOB POSTINGS 9/1/2020 – 8/31/2021

OccupationRegistered NursesSoftware Developers, ApplicationsMedical and Health Services ManagersLicensed Practical and Licensed Vocational NursesOperations Research AnalystsComputer User Support SpecialistsComputer Systems Engineers/ArchitectsInformation Technology Project Managers

# of Job Postings43,98432,35318,13510,0989,0068,2348,0276,957

Source: Commonwealth Corporationanalysis of Burning Glass TechnologiesLabor Insight, STEM Job Postings: Sept2020-Aug 2021.

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Winning in STEM requires attention to gender and racial gaps in occupational outcomes.Though STEM jobs appear evenly distributed among men and women, when excludinghealthcare, women hold 29% of STEM occupations. What this means is that there are roughly3 men to every woman in STEM jobs outside of healthcare.

Women tend to work in lower-paying STEM industries, despite overall parity in numberemployed. Gender representation in Massachusetts STEM jobs splits at 48.8 % women,51.2% men. Taking stock of the four leading STEM industry sectors paints a differentpicture of gender concentration. While women make up 78% of Health Care Practitioner &Technician occupations, they only account for 50% of Life, Physical & Social Sciences,28% of Computer & Mathematical, and 18% of Architecture & Engineering. The sectorsthat have the bigger gender imbalance are the higher-paying ones.

Racial minority representation in STEM continues to be low. 2020 data estimates that 27% of STEM workers are non-white, compared to the 2018 reportof 24%. Black/African Americans make up 5% of the Massachusetts STEM workforce, mostconcentrated in healthcare. Hispanic/Latinx workers compose 6% of the STEM workforce.Asians are over-represented in STEM occupations with 15% of the Asian workforce workingin STEM.

GENDER BREAKDOWN OF LEADING STEM INDUSTRY SECTORSACS PUMS 2019 DATA

Leading STEM SectorsHealth Care Practitioner & TechnicianLife, Physical & Social SciencesComputer & MathematicsArchitecture & Engineering

# STEM Jobs231,40055,850147,71071,040

% Women78%50%28%18%

Median Wage$82,030 $82,000 $101,440 $92,220

Source: Commonwealth Corporation analysis of U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS), Five-YearPublic Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) 2019. Note, ACS estimates are not directly comparable to Bureau of Labor

Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics.

MA IS MAKING INVESTMENT TODAY TO PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE OF STEM

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The Commonwealth invests in STEM throughout the workforce journey – including education,career pathways, and on-the-job training. Leveraging the state-wide education and workforceinfrastructure, Massachusetts has supported worker development in STEM through itslongstanding programs. Find below some stories and statistics about our programs.

In particular, the Commonwealth prioritizes targeted support worker populations toensure upward mobility for all. The Massachusetts workforce must react to changing work patterns while managingdisplacements due to the pandemic. As a result, the Commonwealth has funneledresources to address pressing workforce challenges in priority sectors such as healthcare,and for targeted worker population groups such as at-risk youth, and ESOL.

SELECT WORKFORCE PROGRAMS IN THE COMMONWEALTH

Youthworks

Career TechnicalInitiative

WorkforceCompetitivenessTrust Fund (WCTF)

WorkforceTraining FundProgram (WTFP)

MassachusettsApprenticeshipPrograms

Youth employment program supportingskills-training to help young people earncredentials in areas including STEM fields,building stronger pipelines to high-qualitycareers.

Targeted vocational support to unemployedand underemployed individuals in prioritytechnical occupations.

Demand-driven program that train andplace unemployed and underemployedworkers in jobs while providing targetedsupport to succeed in employment.

Training program that provides grants toMassachusetts businesses to upgrade theskills of their workers and support theircompetitiveness.

Work-based training programs that providehands-on experience, supplemented byclassroom instruction, to enableapprentices to earn while they learn.

$15.5 M to support5000+ students

$4 M to support700+ workers

$10 M to support1,2000+ workers

$ 20 M to support16,000+ workers

500+apprenticeshipprograms

CommonwealthCorporation

CommonwealthCorporation

CommonwealthCorporation

CommonwealthCorporation

MassHire CareerCenter

Source: Commonwealth Corporation, Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development

State-WidePrograms

Description 2021 Investment& Impact

Administrator

YouthWorks, in itsrecent grant cycle,supported youthplacements in STEMjobs across InformationTechnology, Healthcare,Manufacturing, Science,and Engineering.

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Massachusetts Apprenticeship Programs, inpartnership with Apprenti, offers 10+apprenticeships in Tech Occupations,including IT Business Analyst, SystemsAnalyst, Software Developer, CybersecurityAnalyst, and IT Support Professionals. Since2019, 36 apprentices have successfullycompleted their apprenticeship. 28 of those36 were hired or hired early by their originalcompany (78%).

MassHire Berkshire Workforce Board hasbeen involved with STEM for the past fewyears, bringing together employers, the K-12system, and employees. MassHire createdvideos that were published on PCTV publicTV, hosted a STEM/Manufacturing Job Fair,and provided training to employees with 4companies.

LEARN MORE ABOUT TRAINING PROGRAMS

Commonwealth Corporation recently hostedthe first convening of the HealthcareWorkforce Hub, bringing together 7 regionalpartnerships to support training programsfor priority healthcare occupations such asCertified Nursing Assistant.

RECENT SNAPSHOTSWorkforce Training Fund (WTFP) supportedInsulet Corporation, an innovative medicaldevice company specializing in diabetes, intraining on Continuous Improvement/ SixSigma. Leadership, Root Cause Analysis,Technical Writing, Risk Management, andAuditing. During this period, Insuletreduced manufacturing costs by $0.50 perpod and added 30% more full-timeemployees by end of the grant.

The Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund(WCTF) graduated its first remote cohort of15 new pharmacy technicians, inpartnership with JVS Boston. In response tothe pandemic, the training adapted to avirtual format that continued to enableguaranteed externship placement at one ofthe participating employer partners,including Israel Deaconess Medical Center,Boston Children’s Hospital, CVS, Dana FarberCancer Institute, South Shore Hospital, TuftsMedical Center, and Walgreens.

A sample employer placement includesBridgewater State University, MachadoConsulting, Ben Franklin ManufacturingCompany, Peerless Precision Inc., WayneAlarm Systems, A Baby Center, HumanityBoutique, New Balance Factory StoreMerrimack, Chocolate Therapy, YesteryearCyclery Inc., Boston Building Resources.