Developing the Life Science Workforce in 1,000 Classrooms

• Arizona is home to one of the nation’s fastest-growing life science sectors in the United States and it needs more and more talent each year to keep on growing.

• Educators, Industry, and Philanthropy come together to inspire students and support life science educators.

Exploring Pathways to Bioscience and Healthcare Careers  is an initiative for 6th-12th grades dedicated to Bioscience and Healthcare Career Awareness, made possible with funding from the Flinn Foundation. The program includes online resources that are free to use and include Career Spotlight videos featuring local industry professionals combined with classroom resources aligned to spotlight videos.  The program supports career awareness, real-world learning, and helps students connect what they are learning in the classroom with the stories by Arizonans working in this exciting field today. 

“The bioscience sector in our state is growing rapidly, and the jobs being created are tremendously exciting, from technician roles for people right out of high school, to the highest-level research and clinical positions,” said Mary O’Reilly, Flinn Foundation Vice President, Bioscience Research Programs.

Arizona ranks #2 in the nation for Life Sciences Job Growth based on the 10 year average (2012-2022) calculated by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, part of the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah.  Only Massachusetts ranked higher. (Report)

As the need for talent accelerates, Arizona must develop both its current workforce and the workers who will grow with us in the future.

Arizona’s life science sector is well known for its “collaborative gene.” The Exploring Pathways to Bioscience and Healthcare Careers  program was designed and is produced by the Office of the Maricopa County Superintendent of Schools helping to ensure that the program meets the educational needs of students and their teachers.  Essential funding in the form of a $750,000 grant from the Flinn Foundation makes the program possible. AZBio’s broad network of over 300 organizations that together employ over 365,000 Arizonans provides an ongoing community of current life science professionals that can be recruited to share their stories.

Financial support from the Flinn Foundation allows the Office of the Maricopa County Superintendent of Schools  to manage the platform, onboard additional educators, recruit more bioscience and healthcare professionals, grow the on-demand video industry spotlights with corresponding classroom resources and provide for long-term sustainability of the program.

The program is currently available to over 1,000 classrooms across Maricopa County as well as to educators anywhere via the internet.

Good ideas become great programs when you bring the right partners together.

The Exploring Pathways to Bioscience and Healthcare Careers evolved out of a free online platform called Educator Pro Connect that was developed by the Office of the Maricopa County Superintendent of Schools and engages industry professionals from STEM disciplines and connects them with educators who bring them, literally or virtually, into their classrooms.

By building on an existing model, bringing together partners that each had a unique value proposition and a shared workforce development mission, the Exploring Pathways to Bioscience and Healthcare Careers program is inspiring students to continue their education, explore careers that provide opportunities for high quality jobs, and can be accessed by educators across the United States.  It’s a Win-Win-Win.

About the Author:

Joan Koerber-Walker serves on the Life Sciences Workforce Collaborative (LSWC) Board of Directors and is currently President & CEO of the Arizona Bioindustry Association, Inc (AZBio);  Chairman of the Board of the Opportunity Through Entrepreneurship Foundation (OTEF); and a  Trustee of the AZAdvances initiative.