Omaha professionals helping others spark students’ interest in math, sciences

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – There’s a shortage of STEM professionals in Nebraska and plenty of jobs to chose from in the field, especially in Omaha.

That’s why a group of STEM leaders met up Tuesday afternoon. It’s part of Omaha STEM Ecosystem, a citywide partnership to maximize science, technology, engineering, and math learning initiatives in the Omaha-metro.

“STEM careers are for everyone, we just have to know where they fit,” says the Vice President of Advancement at the AIM Institute, Itsel Lopez. Lopez was one of many STEM professionals at Tuesday’s Omaha STEM Connect event.

But for Lopez, a career in STEM was the last thing on her mind. Growing up Latina in America as an undocumented immigrant at the time, she thought it wasn’t possible.

“This wasn’t something that was available to me.”

But things changed for Lopez who now has a career working with the AIM Institute, an Omaha non-profit whose mission is to build and connect the local tech community.

“It really is about sparking that early student interest to get them into thinking that they’re capable enough to do something like that.”

And that’s her focus.

“A lot of the young kids, when I talk to them, say: ‘Well, I’m into art.’ OK great. Well, you can be an artist and still be a front-end web developer and still create an experience for people.”

She says it’s up to so-called “stem-fluencers” to help our youth get started. Letting them know what resources are available to them and making it fun.

“I just started Googling stuff and just started doing that on my own.”

The STEM community platform is an online educational resource that can help parents and young people learn more about careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, STEM jobs are expected to increase by an estimated 10.5% between 2020 and 2030.

“Not a lot of people know that. There are still a lot of people of color who are underemployed or unemployed but having access to training in STEM, can get them out of the cycle of poverty, into a high-paying job.”

Ultimately, more interest means more opportunities for our youth to qualify for local, well-paying jobs in STEM and stay local should they choose to do so.

Lopez says her daughter is planning to follow in her footsteps, attending UNO next fall and focusing on a degree in computer engineering.

Copyright 2022 WOWT. All rights reserved.