Risk Management of STEM Education - The Strategic Risk: Teachers - Opportunities, Training and Social Status in Israel

Abstract

A doctorate study conducted in the Faculty of Education Science and Technology at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, offers an innovative implementation of the risk management process for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education in Israel. A three-phase risk-management process employed: Risk Identification, Risk Assessment & Prioritizing, and Risk Response. The research goal was to outline a risk-management plan to STEM education in Israel based on the conceptions of five stakeholder groups: Educators, academics, industrials, military and philanthropy actors. Research findings presented according to the three phases of the risk management analysis performed in the research: SWOT analysis aimed at identifying risks, a Delphi method for the purpose of risks rating, and a response plan aimed at mitigating risks faced by STEM education in Israel. The findings presented in the article focus on one risk category: Teacher - opportunities, training and social status, as this risk category was ranked as strategic risks in terms of the effect on the objectives of STEM education.