Are accounting and finance considered STEM majors?
This is one of the search query people have been searching and curious to know in the past few days.
So if you are part of those that have been canvassing arguments in either direction, this article will tell you what is what in the shortest while now.
What Does STEM Really Mean?
STEM is an acronym which stands for: science, technology, engineering, and math.
That seems very straightforward, but STEM classifications can quickly become bizarre.
Political science is it the study of legal systems or is it a real science?
Does the use of math in accounting qualify as STEM?
We may begin this voyage by clearly defining some STEM concepts because it is understandable why disagreements occur. To achieve this, we should take a brief journey through history.
In the 1950s, the idea of STEM first emerged.
The cold war had officially begun, and the US and the USSR were engaged in a fierce arms race to develop the best nuclear weapons and rockets to deliver them.
The United States started emphasizing the fundamental ideas underlying them more and more in basic and secondary school as they became aware that they required a lot more individuals working in science and technology.
This progression became what is today known as STEM in 2001.
The term was created by the US National Science Foundation in an effort to group educational topics that fit within the category of science, technology, engineering, and math.
The acronym became popular.
STEM has developed more since 2002.
It encompasses a wide range of academic fields, including hard sciences, health professions, and a lot more.
Are Accounting and Finance Considered STEM Majors?
No. STEM is science, technology, engineering , and mathematics. Accounting and finance are none of these.
Is accounting a STEM degree?
A STEM degree is a Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math degree. Thus, Accounting is considered STEM major. This is because Accounting uses math, does that make it STEM?
It wasn’t always like this.
The House of Representatives introduced a bill in 2021 that officially designated accounting as a STEM field.
The Accounting STEM Pursuit Act creates chances related to STEM, to simplify a lot of legalese.
Is Finance STEM?
A reasonably solid technical foundation for accounting was covered.
And what about finance? it finance a stem major?
The official response is a little more complicated.
Simply put, finance sits on the fence between STEM and non-STEM fields, and this determines whether or not a finance program is considered STEM.
Once more, we can cite government regulation to support our answer.
For instance, if we take a look at the MIT finance degree program, we can see that it has official government recognition as a STEM degree.
More specifically, the program for approval of extraordinary immigration cases has received approval from the Department of Homeland Security.
To make things simple, a fixed percentage of immigration approvals are designated for those who work in or are students of STEM professions.
This MIT finance degree is officially recognized as a STEM degree by DHS.
You’ll find a range of outcomes if you explore several finance degree programs.
While some degrees are formally recognized as STEM degrees, some are not.
Conclusively, Graduate finance degrees are a lot more likely to be considered STEM. In other words, Finance can be considered to be a STEM major.
Reasons Why Accounting And Finance Can’t Be Viewed As STEM Majors?
There are two arguments that support the idea that Accounting and Finance Degrees don’t belong in STEM education, despite the fact that we could provide a dozen more reasons to include them as STEM majors.
When comparing different universities, we find that the business/school of business, rather than the college of science and technology, is where the accounting and finance courses are grouped and taught.
In addition, the focus of a degree in finance is on understanding regulations rather than mathematical and scientific concepts. This makes it a STEM major that is easily refuted.
When Are Degrees Not STEM?
That seems pretty obvious, no?
Accounting is unquestionably a STEM field, as is finance provided the degree program is structured properly.
It’s resolved now.
Both of them are STEM.
But when do we consider a degree STEM?
A degree is considered STEM if degree paths are likely to include math, coding, and technology, as points of study.
So, if a program hits any or all of those three enough, then it might become reasonable to call it a STEM degree.
Conclusion
What is the final conclusion, then?
Let’s follow the rules and come to the conclusion that a STEM major is not accounting and finance. Although the topics have a close relationship with math and technology, the degree is not regarded as a STEM major in the majority of countries.
But if you want to work in finance or accounting, you must obtain a degree in those fields.
