School liaisons were asked to identify individuals in their organizations, including counselors, who would be involved with the NSF activities. Following are the results from the 29 respondents.

Demographic Information
Of the 29 respondents, 55% were male. Their experience in the school district ranged from three years or less to more than 26, with the largest percentage having 7-10 years of service at that school (17.2% of respondents). Total years of work in education had a similar range, but the highest proportion were individuals with 26+ years in education (24.1%). Just 17 answered the job question, a question at the end of the survey after an openended question. Of those 17, 10 are teachers; 5 are administrators; and 2 are counselors.

Most Recommended Careers
In an open-ended question, this group was asked to name the career area they most often recommended. Using the same classification scheme as used for parents and students, their responses are summarized in a table included in the packet. It is obvious that the survey group is much more connected to STEM career areas, as the largest proportion of respondents chose STEM careers as the career areas most likely to be recommended. Several individuals reported that they do not recommend careers or that their recommendations are based upon the students’ interest. These findings are not likely reflective of the total school personnel population, whose opinions also matter in students’ career decision-making processes. This factor should be considered by the project team as they plan strategy for future years. These findings should also influence data collection in the next cycle.

Knowledge About Careers
Respondents were asked about how much they know about particular career areas. Looking at the two manufacturing-related categories, we find the following about these career areas:

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics: 31% know a lot about this career cluster, with 58.6% knowing something.

Manufacturing: 17.2% know a lot, and an additional 44.8% know a little.

Interestingly, and not surprisingly, the area about which this group of respondents knew the most was education and training – their own area, with 58.6% reporting that they knew a lot about this area.

Interest Areas of Students
School personnel were asked to tell us which of the career categories utilized for the instrument would be mostinteresting to students. In rank order, they believed as follows: Despite the fact that these personnel are supportive of careers in manufacturing, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, their belief is that their students are more interested in other options. The Arts category ranking highest lends potential for the project personnel, because this finding is consistent with students’ technology interests in electronic games, media, etc. To the extent that careers in manufacturing could be linked to these student interests, enthusiasm could be encouraged.

Information Source
School personnel were asked to share what they considered to be the most important consideration in career recommendations. Most important to this group were these: For second and third choices, a total of 12 individuals included family income and in total 12 individuals reported educational level of the parents. Because this NSF project is in part designed to develop the capabilities of non-traditional audiences, this career advising consideration should be of some concern. National data does suggest that college completion rates are directly correlated with family income, but some efforts could be directed toward breaking this cycle.

Information Sources
The school personnel recognized the importance of parents in the career determination process, with 56% reporting that this was the most important source. An additional 42.9% cited school counselors, and an additional 33% suggested that teachers are most important. Three said that friends were “not important at all.” School programs and activities, a category where the camps and special programming may reside, were reported to be “somewhat important” or “most important” by 15 respondents, with 10 saying “somewhat.”

Benefits of STEM Careers
School personnel were asked to report what they say to encourage a STEM career, and that long list of items is provided. Most talk about the variety and number of positions available, liking the field, having the skills, etc. No classification of this data has been done at this time.