Jan 16, 2015 In Case You Missed It: High school education programs open doors to science careers (Houston Chronicle)
“Together with the support of the Petroleum Academy Education Advisory Board and critical corporate and individual sponsorships, the center is achieving an unprecedented level of success preparing the next generation, (both males and females) who will lead the oil and gas industry forward.”
High school education programs open doors to science careers
Houston Chronicle
By Rebecca Maitland
Women have been under-represented in the field of science throughout the ages, especially in medicine and engineering.
In the 1970s and ’80s, female engineers began to dot the oil and gas industry’s landscape, and more female doctors were seen in hospitals. But they were few. Today, this is changing.
Both industries and other science-related fields are continuing to struggle to fill the huge number of jobs. Companies have become creative, recruiting overseas, other industries and looking at the female population for positions by collaborating with schools, supporting events, providing workshops, all to recruit young girls and boys into science.
The most promising answer to fill the shortage of labor in science-related industries has is supporting and/or opening schools focused on science.
“The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) Energy Education Center started with a simple idea to establish a program with public schools to make mathematics and science more meaningful and relevant and to address the projected loss of 50 percent of engineering and geosciences professionals due to an aging workforce,” said Barry Russell, IPAA president and CEO.
In 2012, IPAA announced a new partnership with the Petroleum Equipment & Services Association (PESA), a vigorous supporter of the academies, to continue to expand its commitment to education.
“Together with the support of the Petroleum Academy Education Advisory Board and critical corporate and individual sponsorships, the center is achieving an unprecedented level of success preparing the next generation, (both males and females) who will lead the oil and gas industry forward,” Russell said.
Click here to read the full story.
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About the IPAA/PESA Energy Education Center
Founded in 2006, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and the Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association (PESA) Energy Education Center has five high school engineering, geoscience and leadership academies within the Houston and the Fort Worth Independent School Districts. The mission of these academies is to provide students with a multidisciplinary, advanced academic learning experience in science, mathematics and the emerging technology concepts needed to pursue professional training and degrees within the oil and natural gas industry.
About the Independent Petroleum Association of America
The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) is the leading, national upstream trade association representing oil and natural gas producers that drill 95 percent of the nation’s oil and natural gas wells. These companies account for 54 percent of America’s oil production, 85 percent of its natural gas production, and support over 2.1 million American jobs.
