More than 30 years ago, the two people in these magazine covers were planning to go to college. Both of them were the first in their family to go to college. Like you, they talked to high school counselors and teachers, and they were not sure they could afford college.
In the run-up to one of the biggest diversity science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) job fairs held annually at the BEYA STEM Conference, Career Communications Group (CCG), the company behind BEYA and Women of Color (WOC) in STEM, is leading a conversation about how young people can ensure that they pursue their dreams through higher education.
CCG is talking to BEYA and WOC award winners who got over obstacles to pursue their dreams.
What do the 2019 Technologist of the Year and the 2020 Black Engineer of the Year have in common? For sure, they're both engineers, but Lieutenant General Bruce Crawford and Dr. Pamela McCauley have also faced a common problem: Go to college or work right after high school.
In a recent interview, Lt. Gen. Crawford, who will receive his award at the Black Engineer of the Year Gala on February 15, said that being the oldest of four kids, he was looking forward to finishing high school and get a trade. Crawford shared that he worked alongside his grandfather, a self-taught carpenter, since he was in grade school.
By his senior year in high school, Crawford said his "intent was not to try to go to college," he explained. "My Mom worked from 3 to 11, and we needed money," he said. "She was a nurse's aide at the time, and we didn't have much. My grandparents were aging, so I felt like I needed to contribute."
Soon after the mandatory exit conversation with a high school guidance counselor, Crawford was approached by his mechanical drawing instructor. "College costs money," Crawford remembers telling his instructor, Clarence Hill, who was working on a Ph.D. at the time and had gone to college on the GI Bill. With Hill's support and his mother's backing, Crawford took SAT prep classes when he wasn't washing dishes at a restaurant.
Dr. Hill "talked to me about financial aid, which I wasn't that aware of; works with South Carolina State University to get me into college, and then he talks to me about electrical engineering, and ROTC," Crawford said. "The selling point was the ROTC," he added. "I would have a job when I graduated, and I could help my Mom."
By the spring of 1986, Crawford graduated as a Distinguished Military Graduate with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. He was commissioned through South Carolina State University's Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program.
According to the Army, Army ROTC scholarship Cadets graduate from college debt-free. As long as you complete the program requirements and graduate, you'll have zero debt and a guaranteed full-time job.
During his 33 years of service, LTG Crawford has served at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels. As the Army's chief information officer and G-6, Lt. Gen. Crawford leads more than 42,000 men and women in information technology (IT). He also oversees the Army's $12.2 billion IT programs, manages enterprise IT architecture, and directs the delivery of C4IT capabilities to support war-fighters and business users.
Born to an Army drill sergeant and his wife at Fort Benning in Georgia, Dr. Pamela McCauley has often echoed Lt. Gen.Crawford's sentiments on getting a college education when money is a barrier.
McCauley's mother worked briefly as a secretary but was a homemaker for the most part. Her father had joined the United States Army when segregation barred him from entering the University of Oklahoma. His college dream deferred, Mr. McCauley's love for STEM would motivate his children, Pamela said. And when the challenge of becoming a teen mother came while Pamela was still in high school, she knew she could count on the support of her parents.
Working part-time jobs and attending a local community college fulltime, she strived to break away from federal assistance requirements and food stamps. She had given up plans to become a medical doctor because she was squeamish at the sight of blood, but she still wanted a job where she could make a good salary.
"At that point, I was thinking about what other majors I could study to make a nice living with a bachelor's degree because I was a young Mom," she said. "So, I went to the library and looked at different disciplines."
She finally zeroed in on industrial engineering. In 1993, she won a $90,000 graduate fellowship from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the most significant award at the time at the University of Oklahoma. She also launched support groups for young mothers and community organizations to motivate students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
"STEM degrees can move you into the middle class," Dr. McCauley explained on one Baltimore radio show. "Even with an associate degree. Fifty-two percent of STEM careers can be obtained with a two-year degree. So there's no reason for us to be wondering how we're going to make it as young women, as young men, as young mothers. You don't have to depend on anyone. You can get a STEM degree, and if you pursue an engineering degree, the salaries are even higher to create that life that you want and your children deserve."
But how do you graduate from college without debt, and, with a high credit score, pressed one radio presenter?
"I'm a huge community college advocate," Dr. McCauley said. "I went to community college when I was sixteen years old after I graduated from high school. I received my associate degree, transferred to Oklahoma University and took my young daughter with me," she said. "Our community colleges are a great place to get a STEM occupation," she said, adding that in a data-driven world, employers are looking to hire data analysts. Today's careers are great for young people to walk into and walk out of poverty," she said.
"If you're a young mother, you need to be running to a STEM major," Dr. McCauley replied. I share this again: Fifty-two percent of STEM careers can be obtained with an associate degree or two-year technical certificate," she said. "I went from being on welfare to the middle class."
In 2018, 2.4 million STEM jobs went unfilled, she added. "If you know a young person who's unemployed or underemployed, we should be opening every door for them to gain these careers.
Marsha Reeves-Jews, a longtime supporter of Career Communications Group, said more than 80 employers would be looking to hire at the 2020 BEYA STEM Conference.
Click here to register for the 34th Annual BEYA STEM Conference Job Fair.
The National Science Board's 2020 State of U.S. Science and Engineering report shows, the U.S. workforce includes about 17 million skilled technical workers. That is, people who are employed in occupations that require science and engineering (S&E) knowledge, and whose educational attainment is some high school or a high school diploma, an associate's degree, or equivalent training.
In 2017, the United States awarded 93,000 associate's degrees in science and engineering fields and another 133,000 in S&E technologies. Among U.S. students who earned science and engineering bachelor's degrees between 2010 and 2017, about half (47%) had done some coursework at a community college, and nearly a fifth (18%) earned associate's degrees. Community colleges play a crucial role in preparing Americans to enter the workforce with associate's degrees or certificates or to transition to four-year educational institutions.
