Arts, STEM and Patents

Sustained childhood exposure to and participation in the arts appears linked to college students majoring in science and technology fields, and to later going on to patent inventions, Michigan State University researchers have found. In a study published in the journal Economic Development Quarterly and based on STEM graduates of Michigan State's honors college, the researchers found that  93 percent of the STEM graduates reported musical training at some point, compared to 34 percent of adults on average. Further, those who owned businesses or patents received up to eight times more childhood exposure to the arts than did adults on average.