As one of the largest employers in aerospace, Boeing employs thousands of engineers, technicians and researchers. As a major STEM employer, the company has a vested interest in supporting and developing STEM education and the future STEM workforce.
To that end, Boeing recently announced a series of grant awards totaling USD $6 million, to be split between more than 50 non-profit and educational institutions across the state of Washington.
Because Boeing expects a substantial portion of its Washington workforce to retire over the next few years, these grants are part of the company’s commitment to ensuring that students at university, college and secondary school acquire the education and skills necessary to fill those openings by the time they graduate and join the workforce.
The grants are geared toward programs that encourage STEM education at all levels from K-12 through university and college, as well as career path opportunities and workforce training and development. The grants and programs are particularly geared toward historically underserved demographics which are still underrepresented in STEM career paths.
More specifically, $1 million of these grants will be directed toward furthering support for students seeking a STEM education and other enhanced learning opportunities at several Washington universities.
The university grants are:
- University of Washington (UW): $500,000 to help under-represented high school students attend and succeed at UW, including support for the Dream Project, which trains post-secondary students to mentor first-generation and low-income high school students.
- Washington State University (WSU): $250,000 to support new coursework and equip new labs at WSU's North Puget Sound at Everett campus, currently scheduled to open in 2017. The campus' new Fabrication Lab will be named the Boeing Innovation Studio.
- Seattle University: $250,000 for the College of Science and Engineering to improve retention rates of non-traditional students in undergraduate engineering and computer science programs.
The additional $5 million in grants, ranging in amount from $25,000 to $550,000, are designated to provide STEM education and learning resources to the state’s younger students. These grants will support learning initiatives including early learning through Thrive Washington, K-12 science education through WashingtonSTEM and workforce skills development for manufacturing pathways with SkillUp Washington.
"Boeing will be a significant jobs provider in Washington for decades to come. Our hope and goal is that those future jobs will continue to be filled by kids who grow up right here in the state," said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. "We are working hard today to give Washington students opportunities for employment within aerospace, manufacturing and other STEM-related fields when they graduate. Despite the always dynamic aerospace industry, Boeing remains consistent in its investment in our future here in Washington."