How to Launch Your Teen’s Career in Technology: A Parent’s Guide to the T in STEM Education

This is a guest post written by Melissa Hart.

As a mom to twin girls, I want to make sure they are prepared for the future in the best way possible. I hope my daughters will grow up knowing they can do anything they set their mind to do. When I became pregnant two years ago, I left my full-time job to pursue freelance work as a writer and marketing consultant, which led me to a special book project designed to help parents like me prepare our children for future careers in the IT industry. Titled “How to Launch Your Teen’s Career in Technology: A Parent’s Guide to the T in STEM Education,” the book is written by Charles Eaton, a father of four children and CEO of Creating IT Futures, a nonprofit that enables people to improve their lives through employment in the IT industry. Easy-to-read and inspiring, this guide is full of practical advice and resources for helping young people succeed in STEM (Science Math Engineering Technology) education.

MF_FrankenGirls — *Photo by Michelle Lange*

The guide gives an overview of the many career opportunities available right now. One cool feature is profiles of real people who use technology in their jobs (myself included). Eaton works to dispel the myths around technology careers – e.g., students must be good at math or love computer programing – and emphasizes that it’s more important to think like a technologist than a technician. What is a “Technologist?” The term refers to the overall traits that make up a forward-thinking person, beyond just the skills that “techies” share. For instance, a technologist:

Thinks strategy first
Has a passion for solving problems
Sees technology in a constructive context
Believes tech is about humans, not hardware
Values respect, cooperation and collaboration

The “T in STEM” book is well-suited for parents of all ages, from those like me who have a long way to go (my girls are still toddlers), to those with tweens and teens looking ahead to college and beyond. The book is available as a hard copy or as a digital download (PDF): https://tinstem.com. As a Momma’s Little Reviews reader, you can take 10% off the digital version by entering the code BLOG17 at checkout. For more interesting information on this topic, follow the TinSTEM blog: https://tinstem.com/blog/ and @TinSTEMbook on Twitter.

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