A proposal for an internationally collaborative STEM education program for high school students in the developed and developing world: Exisiting state of affairs and facts

In recent years, the U.S. has seen a dramatic decline in its standing among first world countries in STEM performance. The U.S. currently stands at risk of missing out on the untapped human capital in sub-Saharan Africa. Countries like China, India, and Brazil are making sizeable infrastructural, technological and scientific investments there. Targeting students at an earlier stage in the STEM education pipeline is crucial for securing measurable gains from a business perspective by ensuring that there will be adequately educated workers to fill high-tech jobs and insure healthy global competition for the future. To that end, this paper reviews the existing state of affairs and proposes the establishment of an internationally collaborative STEM program for high school students in underserved communities both here in the U.S. and in countries in sub-Saharan Africa.