Inspiring a new era of innovation and creativity in our kids

The era since World War II has become known as the “American Century.” Driven by entrepreneurship and creativity, Americans built products that redefined the way we live. From the personal computer to breakthroughs in healthcare, these innovations were the result of investments in education and research, and people who were willing to take a risk on a creative idea.

With new leadership coming to Washington, we need to take a fresh look at how we inspire a new era of innovation and creativity – an era that will embrace traditional and non-traditional approaches in education and industry to create a new American Century. 

{mosads}To do that, we need to address how we drive innovation and creativity forward. Adobe’s most recent State of Create study found that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that unlocking creative potential is the key to economic growth (83 percent) and that creativity makes people better leaders (86 percent), parents (85 percent), students (86 percent) and workers (84 percent).

Yet, despite the belief that creativity has a positive impact on society and the economy, few people believe they are realizing their creative potential. Only half of Americans describe themselves as creative and 44 percent report they are not living up to their creative potential. We need to acknowledge this divide and find ways to help people develop news skills and unlock their creative potential. 

We believe that every sector — from government, to business, to education — should support policies that enable creative development.  All too often, however, our classrooms and offices do not allow for enough critical thinking, socio-emotional and collaborative abilities. Almost three quarters of Americans believe that creativity is being stifled by our educational system, according to the State of Create findings.

To ensure that students and professionals develop creative skill sets, we need to invest not only in traditional STEM fields – science, technology, engineering and math – but also in the arts. This expanded focus from STEM to STEAM is crucial because innovation is not solely the domain of entrepreneurs, engineers, or programmers.

Artists create meaning, communicate ideas and help bring to light new problems and solutions. Some of the biggest technology breakthroughs in recent memory are the marriage of art and design. These skills need to be taught in tandem with conventional math and science curriculums to empower the next generation of computer science students. 

The U.S. Department of Labor projects that by 2020, there will be 1.4 million computer specialist job openings. However, U.S. universities are expected to produce only enough qualified graduates to fill 29% of these jobs.

One of the ways Adobe is attempting to tackle this divide is by partnering with organizations like Girls Who Code and Technovation to provide opportunities for youth, particularly girls and underserved groups, who are underrepresented in the programming community.  States and the federal government need to focus on worker training programs to help older workers develop new coding and computer science skills for the modern economy.

When the 115^th Congress convenes next year, they will have the opportunity to change the way future generations learn, use technology, and express themselves creatively.  This is an incredible responsibility and challenge that requires lawmakers to make creativity in the classroom and the workplace a priority.

It should be our mission to ensure schools are getting the resources they need to inspire the next generation of creatives to make a difference, because inspiring creativity is critical to finding innovative solutions for the problems of the 21^st century.

Jace Johnson is Adobe’s Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy.

The views expressed by Contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill