UAlbany study shows workers without STEM knowledge were hit much harder by the pandemic
Albany, NY (WRGB) — A study led by a University at Albany economist has shown that workers who use science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) knowledge on the job had a much easier time retaining and acquiring jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new study, "STEM Employment Resiliency During Recessions: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic," by Associate Professor Gerald R. Marschke and three co-authors, was recently published in the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper series; it was featured on the NBER homepage this past week. NBER is the premier non-profit research organization in the United States for supporting and disseminating economic research.
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The study was funded by an NSF Rapid Response Research grant to Marschke and included as one of the paper's co-authors Holden A. Diethorn, a 2020 UAlbany PhD graduate and postdoctoral researcher at the NBER.
STEM workers are a critical segment of the workforce because of their impact on innovation and economic growth, so that even temporary disruptions can have long-term consequences for the economy," said Marschke, a labor economist and NBER research associate. "STEM workers are also crucial for day-to-day operations in sectors that rely on complex technologies such as healthcare and IT.
The most surprising was their finding that workers who apply STEM knowledge at work but are not typically classified as STEM workers tended to fare better than workers in jobs where STEM skills are not considered important.
"We know that college graduates fare better during recessions, especially those with degrees in quantitative fields," said co-author Diethorn. "Our findings suggest that STEM skills offer employment protection during recessions more broadly, including for non-college-educated workers, underscoring the importance of STEM training opportunities outside the college classroom that prepare workers for jobs in the skilled technical workforce."
