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ACTIVITY in Introduction, Interdisciplinary, Chemical Technical Professionals, Unlocked Resources. Last updated January 13, 2025.

Summary

In this activity, students will learn about career opportunities in the Skilled Technical Workforce (STW) – jobs that use STEM knowledge but do not require a four-year degree. They will be introduced to various STW jobs through articles, infographics, videos, and career websites, and will have a chance to reflect on their own career goals.

Grade Level

High School

NGSS Alignment

This activity will help prepare your students to meet the following scientific and engineering practices:

  • Scientific and Engineering Practices:
    • Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Objectives

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

  • Define the Skilled Technical Workforce (STW).
  • Identify careers in the STW expected to grow in the future.
  • Research education requirements, salaries, and skills needed for STW jobs.
  • Reflect on their own skills, interests, and career goals.

Chemistry Topics

This activity supports students’ understanding of:

  • Careers in chemistry

Time

Teacher Preparation: minimal
Lesson: 30-45 minutes

Materials

  • Student handout
  • Computer, tablet, or phone with internet access

Safety

  • No specific safety precautions need to be observed for this activity.

Teacher Notes

  • The National Science Board estimates that there are over 16 million jobs in the Skilled Technical Workforce (STW) that don’t require a 4-year college degree, but require STEM knowledge such as the use of chemicals, application of arithmetic and algebra, and the knowledge of quality control and other techniques for manufacturing goods. This activity uses resources from the American Chemical Society (ACS) and other science organizations to increase awareness of and appreciation for STW opportunities in the chemistry enterprise at the high school level in support of the ACS Strategic Initiative on Fostering a Skilled Technical Workforce.
  • People who work in the STW in positions that utilize chemistry knowledge are sometimes referred to as Chemical Technical Professionals (CTPs). On the ACS Chemical Technical Professionals webpage, you’ll find an educator resources toolkit, information on paths to chemical technical careers, academic and hands-on training programs, career profiles, webinar recordings, and more information that could help introduce students to these types of careers.
    • The AACT Chemical Technical Professionals resource collection contains lesson plans and labs that have students take on the role of skilled technical workers in a real-world scenario and give them the opportunity to learn more about specific STW roles and to practice some of the skills that would be used in STW jobs. Consider following up this activity with resources from this collection to give students hands-on experience.
  • Rather than having students view the National Science Board STW overview document online, you could download and print and/or have it available to students on your LMS. It is included in the downloadable documents in the sidebar.
  • The student handout includes bitly links for the video, career profiles, and career quiz. The full links for these are:
  • The career quiz has 12 possible careers students could get. This is not, of course, an exhaustive list of all careers in the STW, but it provides a good starting point to help students think about how chemistry is related to many possible career paths. The 12 careers featured in the quiz are:
    • Pharmacy Technician
    • Medical Laboratory Technician
    • Biomanufacturing Technician
    • Forensic Technician
    • Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Specialist
    • Wastewater Treatment Technician
    • Environmental Field Tester
    • Plant Tissue Culturist
    • Food and Beverage Quality Tester
    • Cosmetic Formulation Specialist
    • Petrochemical Processing Technician
    • Semiconductor Manufacturing
  • Students can learn about more chemistry careers with a range of educational requirements (including but not limited to the STW) through the ACS Careers & the Chemical Sciences webpage. Another AACT resource that can help them explore some of the career profiles on this page is Chemists in the Real World.
  • The number of career profiles students review in the “Career Research” section can be adjusted to fit the time available.
  • Other resources to help students explore careers in chemistry:

For the Student

Careers in the Skilled Technical Workforce

What are some jobs that require chemistry knowledge? Perhaps more than you’d think! And they don’t all require advanced degrees. Use the resources in this activity to learn more about rewarding careers in chemistry that don’t require a bachelor’s degree.

Warmup Question

List two careers that you think require chemistry knowledge and how someone in that profession might use chemistry in their job. What minimum level of education (high school diploma, associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, PhD, etc.) do you think each of these careers requires?

Read

Read the following article about the Skilled Technical Workforce (STW) and answer the questions below: https://www.nsf.gov/nsb/publications/2024/STW-1-pager-2024.pdf

  1. Who are considered “skilled technical workers,” and what are 3 sectors that employ them?
  2. How many STW jobs are there estimated to be in the US workforce?
  3. List 3 jobs that are part of the STW.
  4. What are 3 jobs fields in the STW that are projected to grow in the coming years?

Watch

Watch the following video about technical careers in chemistry and answer the questions below: https://bit.ly/STWvideo

  1. List 3 job fields where chemistry is used.
  2. List 3 titles that are commonly found in STW jobs.
  3. List 3 possible educational paths to becoming a skilled technical worker.

Career Quiz

Take the following chemistry technical career quiz and answer the questions below: https://bit.ly/CTP-Quiz

  1. What career did you get? Do you think this job would be a good fit for you? Why or why not?
  2. Ask a classmate what career they got (or, retake the quiz and change at least one of your answers to your second choice). Does this job appeal to you more or less than the one you got? Why?

Career Research

Visit the career exploration website CareerOneStop and explore technical career profiles:

https://bit.ly/STWCareerProfile

  1. Use the “Search by Occupation” field or the “List of Occupations” drop down menu on the website above to select a career in the STW that interests to you to learn more about. (This may be, but does not have to be, the job from your quiz result.)
    • Use search terms and educational requirements for STW jobs you identified in previous sections of this activity to identify appropriate jobs.
    • If you are having trouble identifying a STW job, look for something that has terms like “technologist,” “technician,” or “operator” in the title.
  2. View the Occupation Profile for the career you selected and complete the table below for Career 1.
  3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for a second career.

Career 1:

Job Description:

Job Outlook:

Salary range:

Education and Experience to get started:

List two knowledge areas that are important for this job:

List two activities that are part of this job:

List two skills that are important for this job:

List two abilities that are important for this job:

What part of this job sounds most interesting to you and why?

Career 2:

Job Description:

Job Outlook:

Salary range:

Education and Experience to get started:

List two knowledge areas that are important for this job:

List two activities that are part of this job:

List two skills that are important for this job:

List two abilities that are important for this job:

What part of this job sounds most interesting to you and why?

Conclusion

  1. What are three new things you learned about the skilled technical workforce?
  2. What are two things that surprised you?
  3. What is one question you have about the STW, or a question you would like to ask someone in a STW job?
  4. What is one thing you would enjoy about a career in the STW? What is one thing you would dislike?

Extension

Dig deeper into your own interests, preferences, and strengths – take a self-assessment on CareerOneStop:

https://www.careeronestop.org/ExploreCareers/Assessments/self-assessments.aspx

They have an “Interest Assessment,” “Skills Matcher,” and “Work Values Matcher” that you can use to help you identify careers that might fit you well. Take some or all of these assessments to learn more about careers you might like. What careers were suggested for you? Did any of the results surprise you?