Abstract

Business and industry leaders play an important role in supporting STEM education and recruitment, in part through their contributions of time, expertise, equipment, and money to STEM programs. Because business involvement and impact vary, there is a significant need to measure the impact of business engagement in STEM education. An objective index or relational measure to objectively gauge business engagement with educational institutions can assist. This chapter describes various forms of business engagement activities in STEM education and the perceived influence of those activities on student participation in STEM and implications for enhancing and optimizing business-education partnerships.