Report: U.S. Lags in Science Education

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

[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.