STEM education and esports: A winning combination for the future of NC | Opinion

Before the pandemic, 1 in 6 North Carolina schools were low performing. Today, this number has collapsed to a shocking 1 in 3 schools. The national trends are even worse.

The U.S. has seen a decline in the number of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) graduates in recent years. While other countries, particularly in Asia, have significantly increased investments in STEM education, the U.S. has not kept pace.

Many students are simply not exposed to STEM skills or introduced to the high-tech careers that are prevalent in North Carolina, limiting their prospects. One solution is esports, or competitive video gaming, which has exploded in popularity, particularly among young people.

Esports requires a wide range of skills that are directly applicable to STEM subjects like critical thinking, problem-solving, strategy and collaboration. Many of the most successful esports players become skilled programmers as they gravitate towards the technology behind the games they play. They also learn life lessons traditional sports provide, like communication, teamwork and leadership.

Using esports as a vehicle to teach STEM skills we can create a new generation of engineers and scientists well-equipped and passionate about their work. Esports and STEM competitions can be a powerful motivator for students, who may not have been interested in STEM otherwise.

This new approach has generated strong results in the CMS Varsity Esports & STEM League, where more than 1,000 students have experienced everything from ‘Wednesday Night Lights’ on Twitch with professional commentators, to competing head to head in STEM challenges, to bridging the digital divide. UNC Greensboro launched the Scholastic Esports Alliance this spring and already has 45 high schools and over 300 students participating.

After the upcoming CMS and Lincoln County Varsity Championship at Bank of America Stadium May 26-27, these two leagues will merge to create one united opportunity for N.C. students.

We must evolve these initial innovative successes into scalable solutions for our state. We must advance these models to formal dual enrollment programs for our high schools. This approach can help students prepare for the rigors of college-level coursework, improve high school graduation rates, save families money on college tuition, and make students more competitive in college admissions process and the transition into the tech workforce.

We must also push towards being a destination for collegiate programs, establishing North Carolina as the “ACC of esports and STEM.” High school programs can serve as “farm-team feeders” for our university system and provide collegiate participants with real-life, experiential work-study opportunities. UNC Greensboro has led the way with its new esports degree and state-of-the art esports arena and learning lab.

This is not just a pathway for college-bound students, but also those who will enter the workforce directly. We will need a robust STEM workforce to design, build and maintain the technologies that will power the industries of the future.

As of 2020, women made up 23% of workers in software development, Hispanics 9% and African Americans 7%. Esports and STEM education have tremendous potential to close these gaps, particularly for girls. We must focus on connectivity with our HBCU’s and bring these opportunities to our rural communities.

These are the reasons behind our 2023 N.C. budget proposal for a significant investment to accelerate esports and STEM programming statewide. Today, we are excited to announce the official launch of the Varsity Esports & STEM League (VESL), with applications now open for high school students and teachers at vesl.gg.

By using esports to engage students, we can create a new generation of engineers and scientists who are passionate, motivated and well-prepared to tackle the challenges of the future. It is time for educators and policymakers to embrace this exciting new approach and take the first steps towards creating a brighter future for our children.

This story was originally published May 18, 2023 at 6:00 AM with the headline "STEM education and esports: A winning combination for the future of NC | Opinion."