FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SOUTHFIELD, Mich., September 22, 2026 — STEM.org Educational Research™ has introduced the U.S. & Worldwide STEM Sentiment Index research preview, an interactive resource for exploring U.S.-affiliated research alongside worldwide activity and examining search-interest patterns in both geographies. Historical book attention and a separate media sentiment analysis provide additional context for STEM education. The launch includes an inaugural September trends report and a dedicated archive for subsequent monthly analysis.
The resource is available through STEM.org Insights and directly at STEM.org’s index page. It is designed to help educators, researchers, journalists and organizations inspect the evidence behind discussions of STEM education and understand the limits of each source.
U.S. and worldwide trends, side by side
The explorer opens with Research activity and a U.S.-affiliated and worldwide comparison. At launch, its September 1–22, 2026 snapshot identified 28 worldwide candidates matching the English “STEM education” title query in OpenAlex, including two with at least one author affiliated with a U.S. institution. Visitors can switch between the comparison and individual geographies, inspect monthly values, or view the existing worldwide annual history. Matching September 1–22 windows from the prior year provide context; indexing delays mean these changes are not estimates of underlying research growth.
Worldwide research includes U.S.-affiliated work, so the two populations overlap. U.S. affiliation identifies an author’s institution; it does not establish the location of the study or the author’s citizenship. The current research queries and search terms use English vocabulary and do not constitute an all-language global measure.
The Search interest view presents separate worldwide and U.S. Google Trends charts, with monthly history from January 2004 through September 2026. Each geography has its own normalized 0–100 scale: the panels support examination of movement and timing within each region, not direct comparison of index levels between regions. Historical Google Books phrase frequency remains available as a separate measure without a country breakdown.
Each view identifies its coverage and units. At launch, the research and search views reached September 2026 with a September 22 observation cutoff. The live Index shows each measure’s latest verified cutoff separately. September is clearly marked as partial. Annual research history includes complete 2025 data, and the newer saved book corpus runs through 2022. Incomplete current periods are separated from complete-period comparisons, and older and newer book corpora remain distinct.
The Index includes source and methodology notes, downloadable observations, an accessible data table, and a live hosted embed for worldwide and U.S.-affiliated STEM research activity. The hosted embed points directly to the current published Index, so future verified Index updates appear automatically without requiring publishers to replace the embed code. Source-specific observation dates and coverage limits remain visible. An official STEM Sentiment Index social image is available for media coverage and sharing.
Monthly analysis begins with an inaugural September report
The September 2026 launch report examines the evidence available as of September 22. It distinguishes research activity from monthly search behavior and longer-term book usage, explains the comparisons that can be made, and identifies unresolved questions. That report preserves the evidence captured for its original edition; the expanded geographic comparison and its updated source captures are available in the explorer.
Subsequent completed-month reports are scheduled for the fifth of each month. The first report covering the completed September reporting month is scheduled for October 5, 2026. Published editions will be organized in the Index report collection, with observation dates, source limitations and links to the underlying explorer.
STEM.org review, with sentiment measurement under validation
STEM.org owns the methodology and editorial review. AI assists article assessment and consistency checks. The media pipeline checks source provenance, article context, publication dates, relevance and duplicate stories, then assesses current conditions, future expectations and support for STEM education separately.
Each numerical dimension uses the net favorable-minus-unfavorable share of classifiable story clusters. Scores are published only when the versioned evidence and coverage requirements pass; otherwise the explorer presents supported article findings and the specific remaining coverage gaps. The Media sentiment view carries the current result, evidence cutoff, source links and downloadable analysis.
How to read the measures
The STEM Sentiment Index currently publishes research activity, search interest and book-attention measures as dated evidence snapshots. Media sentiment measurement remains under validation and no sentiment score is published until the versioned evidence and coverage requirements pass. Research candidate counts, search interest and phrase frequency measure different forms of activity and attention; they do not, by themselves, establish favorable or unfavorable attitudes toward STEM education.
The live Index is checked and refreshed on a daily operating cadence when supported source data are available, while weekly views are derived from preserved observations and completed-month reports are published separately. Every release identifies its actual evidence cutoff, source coverage and scoring status; a source that has not published newer data retains its true source-specific observation date rather than being presented as newly observed. STEM.org continues to improve source coverage, research relevance, duplicate handling and historical date verification. The U.S. and worldwide comparisons apply to the research and search views; the media panel is not a worldwide opinion sample.
About STEM.org Educational Research™
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, STEM.org Educational Research™ is an independent STEM education research and credentialing organization. Its work supports educators, schools, programs, educational products and published learning content through research, quality assurance and verifiable recognition.
Media inquiries: Contact STEM.org
Index and media analysis: U.S. & Worldwide STEM Sentiment Index
Reports: Monthly STEM Trends Reports
