The Office of Personnel Management is asking agencies to identify federal employees to serve as potential mentors to students interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.
In a letter to agency chief human capital officers, OPM Director John Berry called on agencies to participate in the Department of Defense Education Activity effort to get students to consider federal careers in STEM fields.
The DoDEA initiative is an educational program designed to inform and interest students in a variety of STEM careers, particularly in the federal government. The initiative brings together federal STEM professionals and DoDEA educators to create lessons and activities for participating students. Federal employee participants will guide interested students into higher levels of math, science, computer programming and engineering coursework, and will lead sessions designed to expose students to federal careers and internships in STEM fields, Berry said.
The program will bring students and STEM professionals together at a variety of worldwide events in the spring, with most focused on technology engineering, robotics engineering and medical and health sciences.
"Our main goal is to ignite the passion of students to pursue education and careers in STEM disciplines," Berry wrote.
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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