Building the talent pipeline of future miners

Empowering educators is one way to ensure a good pipeline of diverse, top talent to support the increasing demand in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) career opportunities. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects STEM career growth to outpace other career tracks, predicting that STEM jobs will grow 8.0% by 2029, compared with 3.7% for all occupations¹.

During the National Science Teachers Association National Conference on Science Education, held in Atlanta, Georgia in March 2023, staff from the FLSmidth Minerals Testing and Research Center (MTRC) were on hand at the SME Minerals Education Coalition booth. 

The Minerals Education Coalition (MEC) is the SME’s designated programme to develop and deliver education materials and activities and conduct public awareness outreach about mining and minerals.

Wendi Cooksey, Metallurgical Lab Manager at FLSmidth’s MTRC and MEC Chair, assisted industry volunteers and SME staff with interactive presentations and actively engaged with more than 2,500 teachers visiting the booth during the 3-day expo.  

Wendi was pleased to support the conference as she believes educators are key to attracting new talent to the mining and minerals industries. She says: “Educators can make a significant impact on the exposure young students get to different career paths, especially for STEM fields where women and minority students start to become under-represented as they enter universities.”

During the three days, over 2,100 rock and mineral boxes were handed out to visitors to the booth, along with additional educational resources, posters and flyers, to promote the importance of minerals and mining to students.