Growing the Photonics Workforce Demands an Early Start

KEVIN MCCOMBER, SPARK PHOTONICS

Industry workforce reports and popular news stories have made it clear: There is a glaring need to increase the number of workers in photonics and in the semiconductor industry more broadly. In 2021, MIT researchers projected that U.S.-based middle-skilled and select lower-skilled positions within the photonics industry would grow from around 58,000 to nearly 85,000 by 2030¹. In 2023, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) projected that the U.S. semiconductor industry will add 115,000 jobs by 2030. At current rates of degree completion, however, the association said that ~67,000 of these positions could go unfilled.

Latent potential in K-12

The need to add talent in the semiconductor industry and related disciplines is evident beyond the cleanrooms. From my position as CEO of Spark Photonics Design, an integrated photonics design services company, the most obvious discrepancy of this multipronged challenge pertains to the dynamic that exists between skilled workers and the types of programs that are essential to cultivate talent. There are numerous workforce development initiatives either deployed or still emerging for semiconductors and photonics. Since companies, understandably, seek to fill their open positions in the near term, many firms gravitate toward certificate- or degree-earning programs, students, and graduates. These programs typically serve a population of college/university students as well as those who have already entered the workforce.

Students from Doherty Memorial High School in Worcester, Mass., are introduced to college-level courses during a visit to Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Courtesy of Spark Photonics Foundation.

In doing so, such efforts almost entirely overlook the K-12 demographic and, as a result, address only a small portion of the potential talent funnel.

How small is this portion of the funnel? According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in 2021 ~62% of the U.S.’ high school graduates enrolled in college. Of all postsecondary certificates and degrees awarded in the 2021 to 2022 school year in the U.S., ~18% were in STEM fields.

This means that from the end of high school to the completion of a certificate or degree, ~90% of graduates opt to pursue careers outside of STEM. One way to cut into this number and help build the STEM workforce is to reach students long before their high school graduation.

Another critical area to target is the clear disparities that exist among the recipients of STEM certificates and degrees across demographic groups. Addressing these disparities could be transformational for the STEM workforce, including those who work with semiconductors.

For example, in the 2021 to 2022 school year, men earned nearly two-thirds of all STEM degrees and certificates, according to NCES figures. Driving up the number of women receiving their STEM certificates and degrees to be on par with their male counterparts would add approximately 230,000 more STEM graduates — a value that would represent a 29% increase in the number of STEM graduates overall.

Further, studies show that most students choose their disciplines to pursue during or before the eighth grade². Students typically select high school classes based on these interests. The importance of presenting STEM opportunities to students by or before eighth grade is obvious, and there is enormous opportunity to grow the photonics and semiconductor workforce in elementary and middle school.

Fertile ground in photonics

Founded in 2019, the nonprofit Spark Photonics Foundation aims to engage young people in the fields of photonics and semiconductors. While we have easily identified workforce trends, solutions have been more difficult to decipher, given the need to fully develop and implement programming. For example, the underrepresentation of girls and women in STEM is a disparity that largely originates prior to high school. This signals an enormous opportunity for growth in the field of semiconductors, and particularly for photonics — a discipline that is often completely unknown in K-12. By contrast, many K-12 students are already familiar with or even working with electronics, often in quite sophisticated ways. Since photonics typically presents as an untapped technology area for K-12 students, there is rarely any degree of prior knowledge or experience. This creates a level playing field and makes it easier to engage students who might otherwise feel intimidated by their peers’ expertise in certain subject matter.

Students from John J. Duggan Academy in Springfield, Mass., examine integrated photonics measurement equipment during a visit to Western New England University. Courtesy of Spark Photonics Foundation.

Moreover, photonics is a discipline that students can observe in action, eliminating the hypothetical application of the science and making it “real.” This only adds to the prospect of engagement.

Teachers, school administrators, and parents also have good reasons to showcase the potential of a career in photonics to their students. Beyond the high demand for jobs in the field, the industry also boasts well-above-average entry-level wages. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, degrees in electrical/electronic engineering closely align with the content associated with photonics; those with an associate degree in this focus have a median salary of $72,800 and those with a bachelor’s degree have a median salary of $109,010. Both are significantly higher than the median U.S. salary of $59,540. White House reports from 2022 further show that, compared to other manufacturing professions, semiconductor manufacturing pays >20% higher wages on average.

Headwinds for K-12 workforce efforts

Unfortunately, the idea of addressing photonics/semiconductor workforce needs at the K-12 level is met with skepticism in many cases. Often, these doubts concern the viability of implementing photonics-focused programming for K-12 students — and not the merits of the argument. The most common challenge is that K-12 teachers (in U.S. public schools) lack the time to implement new programming. To be sure, many school curricula are predetermined and aim to prepare students for standardized testing.

In other instances, professionals in both industry and academia may contend that semiconductor and related scientific disciplines are too technically challenging to introduce to K-12 students. It is important to note that exposure to photonics/semiconductors in K-12 is not so much about a deep understanding of the technology as it is about an awareness of the technology’s possibilities. The Spark Photonics Foundation’s Spark-Alpha program introduces K-12 students to photonics by focusing on applications of integrated photonic sensors. The program enables students to devise product ideas and ways that the technology may ultimately be deployed.

An additional common refrain is that K-12 schools lack the funds for new programming. School budgets are typically fully allocated, and long budget cycles often indicate that adding programming requires extended effort.

But for some institutions, substantial external funding does flow into the school system — and often on shorter cycles than their regular budget(s). Highlighting the benefits of programs such as these can be crucial to unlocking more resources to build up curricula. Given the need for more workers to aid in the production of semiconductors, which is an increasingly popular topic of discussion, it is becoming easier to make the case for more STEM programming.

Actions we can take together

There are several steps that those in all reaches of the photonics ecosystem can take to capitalize on this opportunity in workforce development.

First, in academia, adopting a goal that gives students the tools needed to graduate and pursue meaningful careers should be supplemented with placing priority on growing the ranks of incoming students pursuing specialized certificate and degree programs in semiconductors and photonics. Engaging K-12 students in ways that pique their interests and impress a range of opportunities upon them are effective target outcomes from active engagement initiatives.

Showing not only the results of a STEM career but also the journey to such a career must be a greater focus of outreach efforts for schools. In contrast to showcase-style events, project-based learning activities enable students to actively drive their education and work collaboratively to complete a task, often with many creative potential end uses.

Under the workforce development umbrella, the role of the government is often tightly tied to funding. In many state- and federally subsidized programs working in and/or with semiconductors, workforce development is a required component. Often, however, technical requirements of many funded programs are lengthy, while the workforce development component is only briefly touched upon. Workforce development at the K-12 level is rarely required, and yet every workforce initiative is influenced by the results of K-12 education. Adopting a holistic view of the workforce would command that state and federal leaders include focused, direct, and specific requirements for K-12 educational outreach when dispersing funds to worthy applicants.

Finally, workforce development is a long-term investment. Too many professionals in our field, including many of my peers, view the idea of workforce development as equivalent to college internships or apprenticeships that streamline employee hiring as rapidly as possible. Instead, we need to simultaneously grow the next generation of technicians and engineers and allow ourselves to be guided by efforts that will pay off down the road.

References

1. R. Kirchain et al (2021). Preparing the advanced manufacturing workforce: a study of occupation and skills demand in the photonics industry. U.S. Department of Defense via the AIM Photonics Manufacturing Innovation Institute.

2. V. Almeda and R. Baker. (2020). Predicting student participation in STEM careers: the role of affect and engagement during middle school. Journal of Educational Data Mining, Vol. 12, No. 2.