Half of Americans say more people don't pursue STEM degrees because of the difficulty of the subjects the % of U.S. degrees adults who science, say the technology, main reason many young people don't pursue the the think degrees
When Americans are asked why more students don’t pursue a degree in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM), they are most likely to point to the difficulty of these subjects, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. About half of adults (52%) say the main reason young people don’t pursue STEM degrees is they think these subjects are too hard.
In the new Center survey, Americans with a college degree or more education are more likely than those with less education to say the main reason is that young people think STEM subjects are too hard (63% vs. 46%). Those without a college degree are about twice as likely as college graduates to say the main reason young people don’t pursue a degree in a STEM field is that they think these subjects are not useful for their careers (27% vs. 13%).
Half of Americans say more people don't pursue STEM  | degrees because of the difficulty of the subjects  | the % of U.S. degrees adults who science, say the technology, main reason many young people don't pursue  | the degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics is that  | the the think degrees  | These subjects are too hard  | These subjects are not useful for their ca reers  | These subjects are too boring  | Other  | U.S ad ults  | 52  | 23  | 12  | 12  | Job type  | STEM  | 60  | 15 14  | 10  | Non-STEM  | 51  | 24 13 12  | Education  | College grad or more  | 13 11 11  | 63  | Some college or less  | 27 12 13  | 46  | Note: Respondents who did notanswerare notshown Some college includes those with an  | associate degree ofU.S. and those who attended college 11-Aug butdid 10. 2017. notobtain college a degree.  | Source Survey ofU.S. adults conducted Uuly 11-Aug 10. 2017.  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 