US Defense Contractors Use STEM Programs to Influence Children

Raytheon (now RTX Corporation), Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems sponsor a range of youth and STEM initiatives. Raytheon funds the Girl Scouts of the United States, sponsors the national MATHCOUNTS competition, runs the MathMovesU program and the traveling MathAlive! exhibit. Lockheed Martin provides funding for children’s math and STEM festivals, while BAE Systems has produced story‑time content for toddlers. The companies present these activities as efforts to empower young people and diversify the STEM workforce.

Critics argue the programs serve to improve the firms’ public images and to normalize military‑related concepts among the next generation, effectively recruiting future workers for the defense industry. The same firms’ weapons are employed by the United States and Israel in conflicts in Iran, Yemen, Palestine and other regions, and the STEM outreach has been extended to countries in West Asia that are major purchasers of their weapons, such as Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.