

In the United States, these are typically included by organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Labor's O*Net online database for job seekers, and the Department of Homeland Security. There is no universal agreement on which disciplines are included in STEM in particular whether or not the science in STEM includes social sciences, such as psychology, sociology, economics, and political science. It has implications for workforce development, national security concerns (as a shortage of STEM-educated citizens can reduce effectiveness in this area) and immigration policy. The term is typically used in the context of education policy or curriculum choices in schools.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics ( STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. For other uses, see STEM (disambiguation) and Stem (disambiguation).
