POWER June 2015 - 6

SPEAKING OF POWER
From STEM to STEAM
Education
I
'm sure readers of this magazine have
noticed the increased emphasis in
the U.S. recently on promoting STEM
(science, technology, engineering, and
math) education. That's a good thing,
but it's not enough. To improve the odds
of achieving the goals that STEM promoters
have-including a better-trained
workforce and economic leadership-we
should be adding an " A " for " arts " to that
acronym. Encouraging education in both
the liberal arts and fine arts, even for
those pursuing STEM careers, would really
put some STEAM into the workforce
and economy.
I'm not just saying that because
" STEAM " is a clever acronym for a power
generation publication.
It's true that, on average, someone
with a STEM degree is projected to earn
more over a lifetime than someone with a
degree in the liberal or fine arts-though
I know one well-paid former utility executive
with a PhD in philosophy. However,
someone with a background in both STEM
and the arts is more likely to leverage that
technical degree into maximum career
success, for a couple of reasons.
People who have been trained in just
one way of thinking about problems are
less likely to come up with effective solutions-especially
when contexts or resources
change-than someone who has
been trained to think about situations
from multiple angles. Additionally, brilliant
scientists and engineers who cannot
communicate-in speech and in writing,
to colleagues, staff, and the public-run
the risk of being less effective in advancing
their ideas than mediocre peers who
have mastered the art of shaping and delivering
an argument. That's why books
such as Learning to Communicate in Science
and Engineering (MIT Press ebook)
have been written.
And don't ignore the edge that the
fine arts can provide. Playing a musical
instrument, for example, enhances hand/
eye coordination and can help train the
brain to pay attention to multiple " data
feeds " at virtually the same time. Mak6
ing
music-not just listening to it-can
enhance one's ability to learn everything
from math to languages and can strengthen
organizational and problem-solving
skills, because making music integrates
mathematical and linguistic (left hemisphere)
with creative (right hemisphere)
brain functions.
For an engaging scientific and artistic
explanation of this, watch the TED talk
" How playing an instrument benefits your
brain " (http://bit.ly/WCqQkA), which suggests
that the connections made in musicians'
minds may help them " to solve
problems more effectively and creatively
in both academic and social settings. "
(Incidentally, while working on this issue,
I learned that, although her father was a
math teacher and she built a career in finance,
Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good-who
has had more than her share of problems
to solve since taking the top job-studied
piano as a child.)
Strength Comes from Balance
When I think about the value of a STEAM
background, I often recall one of my
husband's former golfing buddies during
our Boston years. Shunichi, who was
employed as an engineer in Japan, was
in the U.S. for a year to study at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT),
but what really impressed me was his explanation
of why he chose a STEM career.
Although his natural abilities and interests
were in the arts and humanities, he
chose something that was initially harder
for him, in order to achieve better balance,
he said.
We do need to encourage students
to develop STEM competencies, but we
also should encourage them to develop
strengths in the arts so they have the
optimal set of learning modes, problemsolving
approaches, and communication
skills to succeed in an increasingly complex
world. Without a STEAM education,
the workforce of the future may find itself
with self-limiting skills. This goes for folks
in the trades as well.
Note that I also would encourage liberwww.powermag.com
al
arts students to make a deeper commitment
to STEM subjects, not only because
technology is working its way into many
fine and liberal arts but also because understanding
STEM fields, and their history,
is increasingly essential to understanding
our world.
Reject False Limitations
Just as companies with more genderdiverse
workforces and leadership enjoy
stronger economic performance (see this
issue's " Women Are Essential to a Thriving
Power Generation Sector " ), individuals
with more diverse educational backgrounds
may enjoy better career success. There are
exceptions, of course, but especially in
our fast-changing global economy, those
with multiple ways of viewing and solving
problems are more likely to land on their
feet when circumstances change-whether
that be a result of a business downturn,
a physical disability, or simply a desire to
try something new.
We do not need to buy into the false
choice between STEM and the arts. Surely
our students are smart enough to major
in engineering while playing in the
marching band, or to major in English
while studying biology and physics so
they can craft more-accurate journalism
or more-informed public policy. A little
cross-pollination might even make for
more-interesting and happy lives outside
of work.
I'm not alone in calling for STEAM education.
Among those in the STEAM movement
is Dr. Loretta Jackson-Hayes, an
associate professor of chemistry at Rhodes
College, who wrote for the Washington
Post on Feb. 18, " Our culture has drawn
an artificial line between art and science,
one that did not exist for innovators like
Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs. "
If you have a story about the value of
a STEAM education in the power industry,
please share it in the online comments
or via the POWER LinkedIn group
discussions. ■
-Gail Reitenbach, PhD is POWER's
editor.
POWER | June 2015
http://www.bit.ly/WCqQkA http://www.powermag.com
POWER June 2015

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