Report: Poor science education impairs U.S. economy
Written on September 23, 2010 – 3:26 am | by Christopher Tulloch
•49% of U.S. adults don’t know how long it takes for the Earth to circle the sun.
•China has replaced the United States as the world’s top high-technology exporter.
Although U.S. school achievement scores have stagnated, harming the economy as employers look elsewhere for competent workers, the report says that other nations have made gains.
If U.S. students matched Finland’s, for example, analysis suggests the U.S. economy would grow 9%-16%.
“The real point is that we have to have a well-educated workforce to create opportunities for young people,” says Charles Vest, head of the National Academy of Engineering, a report sponsor. “Otherwise, we don’t have a chance.”
“The current economic crisis makes the link between education and employment very clear,” says Steven Newton of the National Center for Science Education in Oakland.
In 2007, however, an analysis led by B. Lindsay Lowell of Georgetown University found U.S. science education worries overstated. It saw three times more science and engineering college graduates than job openings each year. Other reports have found top science and engineering students migrating to better-paying jobs in finance, law and medicine, since the 1990s.
Similar Posts:
- STEM Roundup II: Diversity, Engineering Standards, and Computer Science
- Scientists, Educators, and Hollywood Types to Share Ideas at Summit
- Engineering Recruitment Services
- Sparking STEM Interest Is Key to Earning Degree, Study Says
- UPDATED: Obama Sets Goal of Recruiting 10,000 New STEM Teachers
