GM Intensifies Push to Train Young People for Jobs of the Future

GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra and nonprofit leaders today introduced new, innovative programs designed to encourage young people to go into technology and engineering professions and improve teacher training in STEM-related subjects. Noting rapid technological advancements in electrified and self-driving vehicles, cybersecurity and connectivity, Barra said automakers’ futures depend on a deep and diverse pool of talented engineers. Nowhere is this more true than in computer science, where women and minorities make up only a fraction of working professionals. In the U.S., only 18 percent of computer science majors and 10 percent of information security professionals are women. GM selected four new programs and partners using a research-based analysis of various challenges such as teacher shortages and quality of teaching and learning, high attrition rates for underrepresented minorities, low student engagement and inequities and inequalities in STEM education.