The commonly used acronym, STEM, includes the technical fields dominated by logical and objective thinking, but often lacks the abstract thinking found in the arts. Incorporating the arts along with the more logical elements in other categories allows for more creative thinking and humanistic ideas which can create a broader project or convey information in a more effective way. Colleges and universities, even ones focusing on STEM orientations, are starting to further encourage the studies of liberal arts for STEM majors in order to make more well rounded scientists and engineers. These tactics can be harnessed in the real world and workforce in order to create effective solutions to today’s problems.

When people think of STEAM, they often think about the common fields of physics, robotics, or biology, but it actually extends into many other careers in which the combination of these aspects works to solve specific problems in specific ways. For example, consider the field of medical illustration. This field uses one’s knowledge of both science and the visual arts in order to record and disseminate information within the medical field, often used to teach this information in an easily understandable format for students in medical and healthcare fields. Engineers constantly use mathematics in their lines of work in order to carry out their goals of creating new products and programs with accurate calculations and statistics. Architects use engineering principles to effectively design their works and artistic principles to properly communicate their ideas in sketched format. Artists constantly use science in their processes to better understand their materials in a way that can help them predict how their media will behave under specific conditions. In this way, every element of the STEAM fields has a built-in web of interconnectedness to the other elements.

By teaching students to incorporate these ideas and principles into their mindsets starting early in their careers, we can create a generation of blooming scientists, mathematicians, and artists who can broaden their initiatives into newer contexts and applications.