One in ten Americans is foreign-born, and local communities --urban, suburban, and rural—are growing more diverse. One in five jobs is tied to international trade. This means that CTE educators face a critical new imperative: to prepare all students for work and civic roles in an environment where success increasingly requires the ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds in global markets.

These lessons answer the essential question, "As the world becomes more interconnected, how do I ensure my CTE students are prepared with the skills to connect, compete, and collaborate in a global economy?"

This resource builds on the success and impact of the Nontraditional Career Preparation Root Causes & Strategies, which focused on identifying evidence- and research-based practices to address equity gaps in nontraditional occupational pathways, especially for women in CTE programs of study leading to STEM jobs. The original “Root Causes” Resource is the backbone for NAPE’s Program Improvement Process for Equity™ (PIPE™). The new Equity in CTE & STEM Root Causes and Strategies is an in-depth analysis of the root causes of inequity and exclusion in CTE and STEM education through an intersectional lens.

NAPE’s Program Improvement Process for Equity™ (PIPE™) is a research-based, effective professional development program designed for institutional teams to increase the participation and success of under-represented students in Career and Technical Education (CTE) and STEM (especially in nontraditional pathways). The process is built around five modules that help teams to use data to prioritize and act on program improvement to close equity gaps.

From 2015 to the Present, three cohorts of secondary, postsecondary, and STEM Hub partners have participated in PIPE in order to identify equity gaps (disproportionality) in CTE and STEM, and identify evidence- and researchbased strategies to close those gaps. This Promising Practices handout outlines the lessons learned, key steps for success, suggestions to avoid pitfalls, and helpful reminders for continuous improvement. Root causes are aligned with strategies that have been effective in increasing participation, retention and/or completion in nontraditional (by gender) and other CTE and STEM programs of study.

Check out  these links to various STEM career resources that you can use as part of your classroom curriculum today.

Featuring career information from Erich Bakke, Solar Energy Quality Assurance/Quality Control with Arch Electric, Inc.