Report: U.S. Lags in Science Education

Science - AP ^ | 2004-05-05 | Adam Ashton

[Junior]

WASHINGTON - The United States could lose its prominence in the fields of science and technology because of rising competition for foreign talent, a National Science Foundation (news - web sites) report says.

"For many years we have benefited from minimal competition in the global science and engineering labor market, but attractive and competitive alternatives are now expanding around the world," said National Science Board Chairman Warren Washington.

The report, released Tuesday, said more and more foreign-born scientists and engineers joined American scientific work force in the 1990s. Immigrants made up 38 percent of science and engineering employees with doctorate degrees in 2000, while immigrants made up 29 percent of those with master's degrees.

The science board said America risks losing the foreign scientists it relies on to fill technology jobs because of unclear immigration demands since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and because more countries are developing programs to keep their highly-educated citizens.

America also lags other nations in the number of students majoring in science and engineering at colleges and universities, according to the board.

Twenty-four nations in 2000 awarded a higher percentage of science and engineering degrees to students than the United States. The United States awarded 5.7 science degrees per 100 24-year-olds, compared with a ratio of 13.2 to 100 in Finland, which awarded the highest proportion, the report said.

The board warned that a loss in the number of foreign-born scientists who want to work in the United States would hurt the technology sector at a time when many of its most-educated employees are nearing retirement.

"Many of those who entered the expanding science and engineering work force in the 1960s and 1970s (the baby boom generation) are expected to retire in the next 20 years, and their children are not choosing careers in science and engineering in the same numbers as their parents," the board said in comments accompanying the report. It noted that the number of jobs requiring scientific skills increases steadily by 5 percent each year.

"Preparation of the science and engineering work force is a vital arena for national competitiveness," it said.

The National Science Foundation is a federal agency based in Arlington, Va. It releases the report every two years. The National Science Board, a 24-member panel, oversees the foundation.

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On the Net:

National Science Foundation: http://www.nsf.gov/

[Junior]

Ping.

[Phantom Lord]

The US lags in all catagories of education except multicultural, sensitivity, and self esteem.

[GOP_Initiative]

I read this article about education around the world. Americans have average math skills compared to 32 other developed countries, yet they feel the best about them. Contrarily, North Korea has the very BEST math skills in the world, but yet they feel the worst about them.

[CasearianDaoist]

Do away with income tax and they will be beating down the doors.

[cherry]

yes, I am sure we're first in getting our students to know everything there is to know about homosexuality, condoms, " safe sex" and how to be a leftist.....

who needs that stinking math and science?

[rudypoot]

Twenty-four nations in 2000 awarded a higher percentage of science and engineering degrees to students than the United States.

Ahhh yes, rating quantity over quality yet again.

[megatherium]

Lots of folks (US nationals) got math and physics PhDs in the late 80s/early 90s and discovered that the academic job market was horrible. This came after the universities whined about an impending shortage of scientists and engineers, said to be caused by the low numbers of Americans who study science. The universities got what they were really after: increased funding for research, including graduate programs. This greatly increased the number of graduate students. For example, in mathematics, the number of PhDs awarded went from less than 800 in 1986 to more than 1200 per year in the early 1990s. Half of those PhDs were awarded to foreign nationals, who helped glut the job market. If Americans aren't entering scientific careers after that, it's no wonder.

[navyblue]

It all starts in the primary grades. We have emphasized bi-lingual education, diversity, Heather has two mommies and basket weaving instead of the three "R's".

Get back to the basics and the rest will follow naturally.

[LiteKeeper]

INTREP - EDUCATION - SCIENCE

[KevinDavis]

That is correct. We are emphasizing crap instead of the three "R's"

[John Will]

This is one American detrimined to not lag behind in Science.
going for a B.S. in chemistry.

[laurav]

The academic job market is wretched, but there's no need to go into it if you have a math/science PhD (unlike, say, a PhD in "communications studies"). The government hires math PhD's as code crackers and for other national security stuff. Pharma companies hire science PhD's as researchers -- and it certainly looks like the drug industry will have the funds to keep that market brisk for a while. Then there's aerospace or general high-tech companies, robotics, etc.
I'd blame the fall in people getting these degrees more on the lack of challenge in K-12 than the job market.

[kdmhcdcfld]

My daughter will begin pursuing her B.S. in Biology (concentration in Genomics) at NYU in the fall. She's already looking at Duke and the Univ. of Chicago for her Masters/Ph.D.

Score one more for America...

[LiteKeeper]

going for a B.S. in chemistry.

Where?

[joesnuffy]

Entertainment addiction of Americans and their children is the cause
imo

[joesnuffy]

Encouraging my nephew to do the same....way to go...

[PatrickHenry]

I strongly suspect that we lead the world in creation science.

[Poohbah]

I strongly suspect that we lead the world in creation science.

And self-esteem.

So we feel really good about creation science.

[Little Ray]

Need to cap output on lawyers, education majors, ethnic and gender studies, and other such garbage. Instead we should subsidize techies, engineers, mathematicians, and scientists. Stop filling our science courses with foreigners and fill them with Americans instead.

Maybe we also need declare an Open Season - No limits! on trial lawyers.