STEM, an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math , is an educational concept that seems to date back to the Morrill Act of 1862.
As a gifted student, I was encouraged to pursue advanced classes in those areas since Elementary School, although I don't recall hearing the acronym until I was in my mid 50's and quite recently.
As a somewhat gifted and active small business person on and off for the past 26 years, after 7 years of corporate experience and 6 of college, I'm not overly convinced the path that I was put on was as diverse and well rounded as it should have been for my own success and those in my community.