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Hello, all:
This is a contrarian and thought-provoking article from Business Week
citing a recently published Urban Institute study. This study argues
that the data suggesting a shortage in well-educated American
scientists, mathematicians, and engineers is based on flawed
methodology; that more engineers and scientists are created than can
be absorbed by the job market; that American students do not lag
their international peers; and that the average amount of math and
science taken in high school have risen significantly in the past
decade. The article's author is "Executive in Residence" at Duke
University, and an entrepeneur who was born in Delhi, India and came
to the United States in 1980. He holds a B.A. degree in computer
science from Canberra University in Australia and a Master's degree
in Business Administration from New York University.
The authors' own summary of their study is available at http://
www.urban.org/publications/1001094.html
Eric Siegel
Director and
Chief Content Officer
New York Hall of Science
www.nyscience.org
(718) 699-0005 x 317
esiegel at nyscience dot org
The Science Education Myth
Forget the conventional wisdom. U.S. schools are turning out more
capable science and engineering grads than the job market can support
by Vivek Wadhwa
Political leaders, tech executives, and academics often claim that
the U.S. is falling behind in math and science education. They cite
poor test results, declining international rankings, and decreasing
enrollment in the hard sciences. They urge us to improve our
education system and to graduate more engineers and scientists to
keep pace with countries such as India and China.
Yet a new report by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank,
tells a different story. The report disproves many confident
pronouncements about the alleged weaknesses and failures of the U.S.
education system. This data will certainly be examined by both sides
in the debate over highly skilled workers and immigration
(BusinessWeek.com, 10/10/07). The argument by Microsoft (MSFT),
Google (GOOG), Intel (INTC), and others is that there are not enough
tech workers in the U.S.
The authors of the report, the Urban Institute's Hal Salzman and
Georgetown University professor Lindsay Lowell, show that math,
science, and reading test scores at the primary and secondary level
have increased over the past two decades, and U.S. students are now
close to the top of international rankings. Perhaps just as
surprising, the report finds that our education system actually
produces more science and engineering graduates than the market demands.
Junior Scientists on the Rise
These findings go against what has been the dominant position about
our education system and our science and engineering workforce.
Consider reports on national competitiveness that policymakers often
turn to, such reports as the 2005 "Rising Above the Gathering Storm"
by the National Academy of Sciences. This report says the U.S. is in
dire straits because of poor math and science preparation. The report
points to declining test scores, fewer students taking math and
science courses, and low-quality curriculums and teacher preparation
in K-12 education compared to other countries.
The call has been taken up by some of the most prominent people in
business and politics. Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, said at an
education summit in 2005, "In the international competition to have
the biggest and best supply of knowledge workers, America is falling
behind." President George W. Bush addressed the issue in his 2006
State of the Union address. "We need to encourage children to take
more math and science, and to make sure those courses are rigorous
enough to compete with other nations," he said.
Salzman and Lowell found the reverse was true. Their report shows
U.S. student performance has steadily improved over time in math,
science, and reading. It also found enrollment in math and science
courses is actually up. For example, in 1982 high school graduates
earned 2.6 math credits and 2.2 science credits on average. By 1998,
the average number of credits increased to 3.5 math and 3.2 science
credits. The percent of students taking chemistry increased from 45%
in 1990 to 55% in 1996 and 60% in 2004. Scores in national tests such
as the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the SAT, and the
ACT have also shown increases in math scores over the past two decades.
And the new report again went against the grain when it compared the
U.S. to other countries. It found that over the past decade the U.S.
has ranked a consistent second place in science. It also was far
ahead of other nations in reading and literacy and other academic
areas. In fact, the report found that the U.S. is one of only a few
nations that has consistently shown improvement over time.
Why the sharp discrepancy? Salzman says that reports citing low U.S.
international rankings often misinterpret the data. Review of the
international rankings, which he says are all based on one of two
tests, the Trends in International Mathematics & Science Study
(TIMMS) or the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA),
show the U.S. is in a second-ranked group, not trailing the leading
economies of the world as is commonly reported. In fact, the few
countries that place higher than the U.S. are generally small
nations, and few of these rank consistently high across all grades,
subjects, and years tested. Moreover, he says, serious methodological
flaws, such as different test populations, and other limitations
preclude drawing any meaningful comparison of school systems between
countries.
Enough Jobs for the Grads?
As far as our workforce is concerned, the new report showed that from
1985 to 2000 about 435,000 U.S. citizens and permanent residents a
year graduated with bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in
science and engineering. Over the same period, there were about
150,000 jobs added annually to the science and engineering workforce.
These numbers don't include those retiring or leaving a profession
but do indicate the size of the available talent pool. It seems that
nearly two-thirds of bachelor's graduates and about a third of
master's graduates take jobs in fields other than science and
engineering.
Michael Teitelbaum, vice-president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation,
which, among other things, works to improve science education, says
this research highlights the troubling weaknesses in many
conventional policy prescriptions. Proposals to increase the supply
of scientists and engineers rapidly, without any objective evidence
of comparably rapid growth in attractive career opportunities for
such professionals, might actually be doing harm.
Shortages in Specific Skills
In previous columns, I have written about research my team at Duke
University completed that shattered common myths (BusinessWeek.com,
7/10/06) about India and China graduating 12 times as many engineers
as the U.S. We found that the U.S. graduated comparable numbers and
was far ahead in quality. Our research also showed there were no
engineer shortages (BusinessWeek.com, 11/7/06) in the U.S., and
companies weren't going offshore because of any deficiencies in U.S.
workers.
So, there isn't a lack of interest in science and engineering in the
U.S., or a deficiency in the supply of engineers. However, there may
sometimes be short-term shortages of engineers with specific
technical skills in certain industry segments or in various parts of
the country. The National Science Foundation data show that of the
students who graduated from 1993 to 2001, 20% of the bachelor's
holders went on to complete master's degrees in fields other than
science and engineering and an additional 45% were working in other
fields. Of those who completed master's degrees, 7% continued their
education and 31% were working in fields other than science and
engineering.
There isn't a problem with the capability of U.S. children. Even if
there were a deficiency in math and science education, there are so
many graduates today that there would be enough who are above average
and fully qualified for the relatively small number of science and
engineering jobs. Science and engineering graduates just don't see
enough opportunity in these professions to continue further study or
to take employment.
Creating Wider-Ranging Demand
With U.S. competitiveness at stake, we need to get our priorities
straight. Education is really important, and a well-educated
workforce is what will help the U.S. keep its global edge. But
emphasizing math and science education over humanities and social
sciences may not be the best prescription for the U.S. We need our
children to receive a balanced and broad education.
Perhaps we should focus on creating demand for the many scientists
and engineers we graduate. There are many problems, from global
warming to the development of alternative fuels to cures for
infectious diseases, that need to be solved. Rather than blaming our
schools, let's create exciting national programs that motivate our
children to help solve these problems.
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