Is Government Policy to Blame for S&E Worker Shortage?

Brain drains and a lack of technically skilled workers, both scientists and engineers, are commonly heard complaints of state and local tech-based economic development practitioners across the country. But are federal and state innovation policies part of the problem? Paul M. Romer, of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University, says yes in Should the Government Subsidize Supply or Demand of in the Market for Scientists and Engineers?



Conclusions drawn from several studies indicate problems on the supply side are likely to continue for some time. A June survey from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) reveals the number of bachelor degrees awarded in engineering peaked at more than 77,000 in the mid-80s. During the past decade, while the demand for technical positions soared, the number of all engineering degrees awarded dropped to 63,000. Things are not bad, however, in all engineering fields; the number of biomedical and chemical engineering degrees granted doubled during the same time period.



Romer feels that U.S. innovation policy during the past 20 years has been too heavily focused on initiatives to expedite the process of developing and commercializing technological innovation, such as increased spending on R&D and R&D tax incentives, increase demand without considering the availability of the scientists and engineers required to support that demand, Romer argues. He contends this has been shortsighted and will be detrimental to continuing or sustaining the nation’s competitive position in a global economy.



Given that the key component of most research and innovation is knowledge capital, Romer contends government must increase the quantity of scientists and engineers, not simply the cost of the existing pool of available researchers.



Romer believes that better-defined goals and programs should be initiated in order to increase scientists and engineers in the workforce, including:

• Providing training grants to undergraduate institutions that will increase a portion of the number of students obtaining science and engineering degrees
• Financing achievement-based exams rather than normed exams to measure undergraduate understanding of their chosen discipline
• Financing portable fellowships paying $20,000 per year for three years to undergraduates wanting to continue graduate work in science and engineering.

Romer also recommends structural changes to the way schools prepare Ph.D students. Ph.D. training in research institutes is different than in professional schools: research institutes are oriented for eventual placement in an academic setting and business schools train for placement in industry. Romer believes that changing the traditional university teaching to that which is taught in business schools should be done without disrupting the essence of science education.



Fortunately, programs and policies to support the supply side of scientists and engineers are increasing in both state and federal portfolios of tech-based economic development policy. While many of these programs are broader, such as the Math and Science Education Partnership initiative of the National Science Foundation or state scholarships to support college education, there are more specific activities to encourage an increased pool of future scientist and engineers, particularly in targeted populations such as women and minorities.



Romer’s research into the supply of scientists and engineers may be found in the closing paper of the inaugural volume of Innovation Policy and the Economy, edited by Adam Jaffe, Josh Lerner and Scott Stern. Among the other five papers in Vol. I are Publicly Funded Science and the Productivity of the Pharmaceutical Industry (see the 7/20/01 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest), and Numbers, Quality and Entry: How Has the Bayh-Dole Act Affected U.S. University Patenting and Licensing? (see the 3/16/01 issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest for a related story)



Published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Innovation Policy and the Economy is available for purchase for $24.00, plus $4.50 shipping and handling from SSTI. More information on the ASEE, including an online database profiling more than 340 colleges and engineering and engineering technology, can be found at http://www.asee.org