American Voters Get STEM Education = Competitiveness, Survey Finds

Americans increasingly recognize the nation's status as the world's economic superpower is threatened, based on research findings released by the Business Roundtable last Thursday. After four months of focus groups, interviews with opinion leaders and three national voter polls, the roundtable concluded there is widespread public recognition of the growing competitiveness crisis in this country and strong national support for policies designed to strengthen America’s capabilities in mathematics and science.

Whether Congress and the Bush Administration will address the concerns remains to be seen, roundtable leaders suggest.

"It’s clear that we have to broaden our partnerships to move this work forward," said Arthur F. Ryan, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Prudential Financial, Inc., and chairman of the Roundtable’s Education & the Workforce Task Force. "It’s not sufficient for business people and educators to collaborate – we need the support of all stakeholders, including the Administration and Congress."

The roundtable, comprised of CEOs of roughly 160 leading U.S. corporations, places considerable emphasis in its policy recommendations on encouraging today's young people to pursue careers drawing on math and science skills -- areas in which the U.S. is seen to be slipping internationally. The findings also encourage increased federal support for science and technology, specifically basic research, but to a lesser degree.

More Americans believe China will be the world's greatest economic power in 20-30 years -- when children born today are beginning their professional careers. Only 26 percent of the surveyed opinion leaders and 32 percent of voters thought the U.S. would still hold this distinction. Those opinion leaders and voters selecting China for the answer numbered 39 percent and 45 percent, respectively.

Nearly two-thirds of voters believed secondary education was failing to prepare graduates for the demands of college and the working world, and 86 percent agreed that the country must increase the number of workers with a background in science and math, else America’s ability to compete in the world economy will be severely diminished.

Only 5 percent of parents said they would try to persuade their child toward careers in science, technology, engineering or math, while 65 percent said they would allow the child to pursue whatever career path he or she prefers. Twenty-seven percent said they would encourage the child to pursue a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) career, but balance it with the child’s preference.

If American-born residents of the U.S. are not going to be future scientists and engineers, then the need to attract highly-skilled foreign-born workers would seem to be an appropriate priority. But again, the public is split, with 44 percent of voters positive and 40 percent negative. Sixty-eight percent of opinion leaders, on the other hand, see highly educated foreign-born workers in the U.S. as positive contributors to U.S. competitiveness.

The roundtable concludes, "Americans know that the U.S. risks falling behind and understand the relationship between education and competitiveness. They support an increased emphasis on improving science, technology, engineering and math education and recognize the need to increase the number of workers with a background in these fields. However, most Americans do not intuitively link education, immigration and basic research as connected parts of the overall solution."

The project's findings are available at http://www.businessroundtable.org/.

But At Least We're Not Europe?

The U.S may be headed toward second-tier status for global competitiveness, but where does that leave Europe if the European Commission's assessment is correct that the European Union is 50 years behind the U.S. for innovation?

Published in December, the fifth edition of the Innovation Scorecard suggests the Innovation gap between the U.S. and the 25-member EU is stable, but it would take more than 50 years for the EU to catch up to its American counterpart.

The commission assesses innovation across five dimensions -- innovation drivers, knowledge creation, innovation and entrepreneurship, applications, and intellectual property. In addition, it proposes a new assessment of innovation efficiency based on an input/output approach and develops a specific sectoral approach.

Only five member countries - Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany - are deemed competitive or leading countries in the scorecard, which is available at: http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/21&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en