Policymakers and industry leaders are claiming that the U.S. has an insufficient number of STEM graduates. As the rhetoric of a shortage of skilled scholars and employees in STEM-related fields expands, there is a plethora of publications that refers to a phenomenon dating back to the 1950s. Nonetheless, this new paradigm presents a critical challenge to policies and programs that surround STEM education in countries around the world. While STEM, including the underlying human capital component is a major factor of economic growth in the United States, it is also in Australia and Germany. The policy analysis study is presented as a systematic investigation, critically examining how the contemporary discussion around STEM and skills shortages is articulated within an analytical framework that tends to differ. The policy analysis has proven useful to identify how the rhetoric reflects the real situation and how solutions are sought out relative to the national and international contexts