What is PAsmart?

PAsmart Career Paths

PAsmart is working to enhance STEM knowledge and skills to provide an opportunity to pursue a wide variety of jobs within and outside of the typical STEM fields. Over the past 10 years, there has been a shift in the use of STEM knowledge and skills outside of those thought of as science and engineering.

Students or job seekers planning education or career paths have many options:

  • Technical school or technical training at a 2-year college;
  • A bachelor’s degree through some combination of 2-year and 4-year college courses;
  • Military service that includes significant on-the-job training and/or education benefits; or
  • Employment that provides on-the-job training or through an apprenticeship.

Before, STEM jobs were considered only for individuals with 4-year college degrees.
Today, many technical STEM jobs (PDF), concentrated in the IT, health care, and skilled trades, only need education beyond high school, often in the form of a 2-year degree, license, or certification.

Some of the more common PAsmart career paths include:

  • Computer and mathematical scientists
  • Biological, agricultural, and environmental life scientists
  • Physical scientists (e.g., physicists, chemists, geoscientists)
  • Social scientists (e.g., psychologists, economists, sociologists)
  • Engineers (e.g. civil engineer, mechanical engineer)
  • Health care workers (e.g., physicians, audiologists, nurses)
  • Information Technology (e.g. software developer, cyber-security analyst, computer network architect, database administrator)
  • STEM-related educators
  • Technologists and technicians
  • Actuaries and statisticians
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