100 CEOs' Top Five Commitments to Bridge U.S. STEM Skills Gap

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Tata Consultancy Services (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, today announced the results of its mapping analysis of STEMconnector®'s recent '100 CEO Leaders in STEM' publication, a first-of-its-kind survey of 100 American CEOs reflecting the corporate voice of America on important STEM issues. During a live CEO panel organized by STEMconnector® on September 25, Balaji Ganapathy, Head of Workforce Effectiveness, TCS North America, unveiled that the top focus areas for most CEOs were technology and innovation as key growth drivers, diversity and women in STEM fields, and the importance of these factors for the U.S. economy and competitiveness as a nation.  

"There is no doubt that a nation that is technologically savvy will inevitably have a competitive edge," said N Chandrasekaran, CEO and Managing Director, TCS. "As we become more 'digital' as a society, not only does STEM education lead to technology-led innovations, but also increased competitiveness and productivity of a country. Future job growth will be in STEM disciplines, and a nation aspiring to be a global leader can use STEM education as a perfect platform for economic growth and prosperity."

TCS' Connected Marketing Solutions team analyzed and mined the most emphasized CEO responses in STEMconnector's report to reveal further insightful trends, challenges and recommended solutions. Across numerous industries, the top three areas of cross-sector CEO consensus were: 41 percent feel it is important to train young students and professionals in STEM education to meet critical future U.S. workforce needs; 40 percent strongly support STEM education of women and underrepresented minorities; and 35 percent feel technical training innovation is essential for economic growth and competitive advantage in the global marketplace.

The top five commitments from the 100 CEOs – representing a combined revenue of more than $3.27 trillion and 7.6 million employees – to increase STEM participation were:

1. Understand and train for critical STEMS skills and experiences their organizations need to succeed.
2. Invest in STEM education with public and private organizations, establishing mentorships and apprenticeships.
3. Increase employees' awareness of STEM challenges and establish cross-departmental alignment on STEM company initiatives.
4. Encourage them to get involved with STEM initiatives outside of work to help motivate future STEM employees.
5. Change perceptions within their communities by educating students, teachers, career counselors, and parents about the various and promising career opportunities requiring STEM skills.

"The role of technology and innovation as a prime driver of U.S. growth in STEM was a powerful insight, validating our prior outlook," said Surya Kant, President, North America, UK & Europe, TCS. "The commitment of the 100 CEOs and the cross-sector consensus shows how deeply they feel about the issue of educating our youth, and inclusion of women and minorities in STEM. We need several corporate leaders to answer the call-to-action, identify existing best practices for in-school and out-of-school programs, and make the commitment to use their core competencies and resources to bridge the US STEM gap."

"It is all about CEO commitment. We are collectively humbled by the caliber of the thoughtful insight. We must all take a collective action to ensure America's youth and workforce are equipped with the STEM skills needed to compete in the global market economy," said Edie Fraser, CEO of STEMconnector®.

TCS put its Connected Marketing Solution's 'Voice of Customer Analytics' (VoCA) platform to work, using text-mining algorithms to analyze each of the 100 CEOs' responses, categorize them and extract key phrases, themes and opinions. Patterns, metrics and graphical summaries were identified to provide clear views of the CEOs' perspectives, sentiment, satisfaction, expectations, and potential actions. In partnership with STEMconnector®, TCS has published these insights and analysis in a white paper on its website at http://on.tcs.com/STEM100CEOTalk.

In September, TCS summarized the key issues and potential solutions to address STEM workforce issues, following the 'Computer Science Executive Round Table' that it hosted in partnership with STEMconnector®. This dynamic event held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. brought together executives, government officials and thought leaders sharing a common cause: increasing students' interest and participation in computer science (CS), advocating for stronger educational policy, and implementing programs that will effectively excite and prepare students for computer science careers. The event was designed to assess the current status of computer science education and careers at a national and state level, and then create a blueprint for addressing the key issues through cross-sector collaboration.

TCS also recently completed the fifth year of TCS goIT, its own multi-tiered program engaging students, parents, universities, and local government in competitions to increase excitement in STEM and technology related careers. The program is now expanding to cover 10 cities in the U.S. and Toronto, Canada.

About Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS)

Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organization that delivers real results to global business, ensuring a level of certainty no other firm can match. TCS offers a consulting-led, integrated portfolio of IT, BPS, infrastructure, engineering and assurance services. This is delivered through its unique Global Network Delivery Model™, recognized as the benchmark of excellence in software development. A part of the Tata group, India's largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 277,000 of the world's best-trained consultants in 44 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $11.6 billion for year ended March 31, 2013 and is listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in India. For more information, visit us at www.tcs.com.

About STEMconnector®

STEMconnector® is "the one-stop-shop" for STEM information. With several products and services, STEMconnector® supports its members design, implement and measure their STEM strategies. Since its launch in 2011, STEMconnector® has been the leader in leveraging a network of STEM stakeholders and "making things happen." STEMconnector®'s charge is to identify, inform and connect entities working in STEM Education/Careers to assess smart STEM investments and results. For information on how to become a sponsor, contact: [email protected]

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SOURCE Tata Consultancy Services