NATIONAL

Recommendations

Info

• expanding its coverage of the STEM-capable workforce to include information about certifications and other non-degree credentials that are important for technical workers and other professional occupations • partnering with NSF directorates to develop more and better indicators of K-12 STEM education and the career progression of scientists and engineers supported by NSF’s funding mechanisms NSF also plays a leading role in fostering a STEM-capable workforce by investing in human resource development through its competitive granting mechanisms. NSF also supports STEM education research aimed at identifying core STEM competencies and enhancing STEM learning in a variety of settings and career stages. The insights gained from this research promise to inform how to best provide the education and training that STEM workers need throughout their careers. NSF’s Directorate for Education and Human Resources is actively engaging in efforts to build partnerships within NSF, with other Federal Agencies, and with the academic and the business communities to develop evidence-based best practices to foster a globally competitive, innovative workforce for the 21st Century. Government, Education, and Business Leaders The Board hopes the insights detailed in this report can offer value for government and education leaders as they allocate resources among competing investment priorities. Much of the current discussion about the Federal Government’s role focuses on providing more stable, predictable support for academic R&D. These conversations rightfully acknowledge the adverse effect of unpredictable Federal funding on research productivity. Instability in Federal funding also affects the career trajectories of doctoral students, postdoctoral workers, and researchers whose employment is often supported by federally-funded research grants. Recognizing that strong, steady increases in Federal R&D funding may not always be feasible, it is important for Federal Agencies, Congress, and research institutions to consider how best to mitigate the adverse effects of budget conditions on career paths. A key question for educational leaders is how, at a time of scarce resources, to protect and strengthen their core educational mission, while meeting the diverse and rapidly changing educational and training needs of students and workers. The traditional role of educational institutions at all levels is to equip students with generalizable knowledge and competencies necessary to learn, think critically, and embark on career pathways. While this responsibility remains as important as ever, it is clear that the relationship between education and careers is changing and that workers will need opportunities for skill renewal and development throughout their careers. Community colleges, career and technical education programs, 111 and newer “business-needs-oriented” educational efforts like the Professional Science Master’s programs, can provide a bridge between education and skills-training. Leaders in the business community can help foster a strong STEM-capable U.S. workforce by considering how employer-provided on-the-job-training, reskilling, and other professional development activities could help strengthen the capabilities of their workers and make their businesses more competitive. Businesses could also explore partnering with local educational institutions to ensure that students and incumbent workers are learning the types of portable STEM and non-STEM skills needed in an environment where tasks are continually changing and job categories are being created and supplanted. These are just some of the potential conversations that arise when we focus our attention on creating a STEM-capable U.S. workforce that can adapt to the demands of a globally competitive, knowledgeand technology-intensive economy. By embracing this shared responsibility, government, educational institutions, and industry can strengthen our most important resource, our human capital, and position our Nation for continued global leadership in science and technology. 26 REVISITING THE STEM WORKFORCE
ENDNOTES 1 The predecessor of Science and Engineering Indicators emerged in 1955 when the Foundation published its first “fact book.” J. Merton England, A Patron for Pure Science (Washington, DC: National Science Foundation, 1982), 254. 2 Vannevar Bush, Science – The Endless Frontier (Washington, DC: National Science Foundation, 1990), 23. 3 Anthony Carnevale and Donna Desrochers, “The Missing Middle: Aligning Education and the Knowledge Economy,” (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2002); Elka Torpey, “BLS Career Outlook: Got Skills? Think Manufacturing,” June 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2014/ article/manufacturing.htm; Daren Acemoglu and David Autor, “Skills, Tasks and Technologies: Implications for Employment and Earnings,” in Handbook of Labor Economics, eds. Orley Ashenfelter and David Card (Elsevier: 2011) vol. 4B, 1043-1171; David Autor, Lawrence Katz and Alan B. Krueger, “Computing Inequality: Have Computers Changed the Labor Market?” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 113, no. 4 (November 1998): 1169-1213. 4 NSF’s Business R&D and Innovation Survey (BRDIS) shows that although businesses that perform R&D report a significantly greater incidence of product or process innovation, over three-quarters of reported innovation in the United States derives from businesses that are not significantly engaged in R&D activity. Mark Boroush, “NSF Releases New Statistics on Business Innovation,” (Arlington, VA: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, 2010). Retrieved from: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/ nsf11300/. 5 See, for example, the experience of “high-road” manufacturing in Susan Helper, “The High Road for U.S. Manufacturing,” Issues in Science and Technology 25, no. 2 (Winter 2009). Retrieved from: http://issues.org/25-2/helper/; Susan Helper, Timothy Krueger, and Howard Wial, “Why Does Manufacturing Matter? Which Manufacturing Matters? A Policy Framework,” (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2012). Retrieved from: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/ Papers/2012/2/22%20manufacturing%20helper%20krueger%20wial/0222_manufacturing_helper_ krueger_wial.pdf. 6 NSF’s definition of S&E occupations does not include healthcare workers. NSF includes these workers in its category of S&E-related occupations. 7 Between 2003 and 2010, the number of individuals with a college degree reporting that their job requires at least a bachelor’s-degree level of expertise in S&E increased 28%, from 12.9 million to 16.5 million. National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2014 (Arlington, VA: National Science Board, 2014), 3-5. 8 Categorized using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system. 9 Jonathan Rothwell, “The Hidden STEM Economy,” (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2013). Retrieved from: http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2013/06/10-stem-economy-rothwell; Executive Office of the President, “President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) Memo of September 2014,” (Washington, DC: Executive Office of the President, 2014). A COMPANION TO SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING INDICATORS 2014 27
Page 1 and 2: REVISITING THE STEM WORKFORCE A Com
Page 3 and 4: NSB-2015-10 REVISITING THE STEM WOR
Page 5 and 6: CONTENTS FRANCE A. CÓRDOVA, Member
Page 7 and 8: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The National Scien
Page 9 and 10: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The condition of
Page 11 and 12: INTRODUCTION Since the National Sci
Page 13 and 14: I. The “STEM workforce” is exte
Page 15 and 16: The ‘Technical’ STEM Workforce
Page 17 and 18: The STEM Worker Surplus-Shortage De
Page 19 and 20: II. STEM knowledge and skills enabl
Page 21 and 22: Examples of STEM Pathways: Engineer
Page 23 and 24: C. The Pathways Approach - Asking B
Page 25 and 26: FIGURE 2: Unemployment rate, by occ
Page 27 and 28: B. Assessing the Condition of Pathw
Page 29 and 30: y field decreased by 4-9 percentage
Page 31 and 32: Data on racial and ethnic minoritie
Page 33: DISCUSSION & NEXT STEPS An Approach
Page 37 and 38: Policy in the Global Economy,” NB
Page 39 and 40: 42 Indicators 2014, Appendix Table
Page 41 and 42: 68 Indicators 2014, O-5 and 6-25. 6
Page 43 and 44: 92 For example, see: American Chemi
Page 45 and 46: NATIONAL SCIENCE BOARD RECENT PUBLI

NATIONAL

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?