As the Department of Education faces rounds of layoffs and threats of dissolution, prompted by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), it is urgent to rethink and rededicate efforts to strengthen, broaden, and enhance STEM education from early childhood through post-secondary programs.
In order to realize the promise of an AI-driven future, technology and education leaders must address the persistent gaps between supply and demand for all highly skilled technical workers in the U.S.
This follows the recent activity of Elon Musk announcing the launch of the latest version of his company xAI's Grok model, South Korea banning downloads of Deep Seek, and President Donald Trump's promise of the $500 billion Stargate Project to create thousands of U.S. jobs. The urgent importance of OpenAI for this country is undeniable.
While some experts focus on the potential human job losses associated with the overall integration of AI tools, it is rewarding to see that the promise of Stargate and more recognizes that people will be the engine of the new economy. To do so, however, it is urgent to build the human infrastructure necessary to support this future work.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a projected job growth in the U.S. for information security analysts of 33 percent from 2023 to 2033, with nearly 181,000 jobs in this field in 2023. In 2024, there were reportedly 457,433 openings “requesting cybersecurity-related skills,” CyberSeek reports, with 83 qualified workers for every 100 jobs. These job numbers are indicative of the larger tech workforce.
During his first term, Trump established the Presidential Cybersecurity Education Award in 2019 under his Executive Order on America’s Cybersecurity Workforce. The U.S. Department of Education administers this award that honors the work of primary and secondary educators who are preparing students to effectively navigate a cyber-enabled world.
Even as the administration talks of dismantling and distributing federal education dollars under the Department of Education to state houses, it is necessary to maintain a unified standard for STEM education. American competitiveness requires that all students who will comprise the workforce and will lead the nation forward have the strategic skills and competency to innovate in the future. It is not sufficient to simply leave the future to chance.
Rather, the DOE needs to remain to establish the framework for the national priority of digital sciences and tech advancement by implementing a unified message and guidance on AI to make cybersecurity and all technology a national priority.
Federal and state policymakers, educators, advocates, and tech leaders must guard against the propensity for individual states to set different standards that may unduly disadvantage some students. STEM education from primary through higher education must have national policies to make sure there is a level of consistency across states.
In 2023, The White House came out with the National Cyber Workforce & Education Strategy, outlining objectives, steps, and outcomes for resources, training, recruiting, retention, and advancement of the U.S. cyber economy. Updated last year, the strategy outlines the need for lifelong investment in cyber skills, leading to a citizenry equipped with digital literacy and computational skills. This is the ideal approach and needs to be enforced.
Workforce developers must also take full advantage of programs to upskill and reskill existing employees as they leverage internal labor markets to fulfill workforce needs.
Recent workforce studies point to a lack of supply. However, some experts question the nature of the need. There is an oversupply for some roles, an undersupply of others, and a disconnect between the expectations of employers and candidates. Employers question if the talent pool is weak or if they are seeking over-credentialed candidates. This may be unrealistic so that new employees can’t easily fulfill their roles.
The barriers to a robust talent pool for a competent cybersecurity workforce include insufficient resources in education from primary to secondary to higher education, potential restrictions on H-1B visas, and new policies on diverse candidate hiring.
Cybersecurity is a rapidly blooming field with the global market valued at $190.4 billion and expected to grow to $248.5 billion in 2028, research shows. Despite decades of work to produce a workforce of sufficient quality and quantity, our own research shows that positions continue to be unfilled.
To be successful in the evolving cybersecurity workforce—and the entire evolving tech workforce—individuals need to be able to create arguments, do research, analyze data, experiment, think critically, and employ scientific reasoning so that they will adapt successfully with the skills they need.
An innovative and creative future tech workforce depends on a community of critical thinkers with varying points of view, experiences, backgrounds, and voices. When there is an assault on sources of expertise and intellectual knowledge due to certain identities of race, gender, or ability, the value assigned to individuals becomes less about what they know and more about who they represent.
Serving as executive director of the Shahal M. Khan Cyber and Economic Security Institute at American University, I directly see the need for the responsibility of training the future tech workforce with a fair and just path of entry, growth, and advancement. This mission goes beyond politics and transcends the term limits of any administration.
The U.S. is certainly among the top global leaders in the practice of cybersecurity and digital innovation in terms of education, policy development, and implementation. America is expected to generate the most revenue globally in cybersecurity by the end of 2025, with a sum of $88.25 billion.
The projected tech job growth in the U.S. is from six million jobs in 2024 to 7.1 million jobs in 2034, according to the Computing Technology Industry Association's 2024 State of the Tech Workforce.
With new projects emerging, the possibilities seem limitless. The time to educate for the future is now.
Diana l. Burley, PhD, is Vice Provost for Research and Innovation, Professor of Public Administration and Executive Director, Khan Institute for Cyber and Economic Security at American University.
