Fed Gov't Must Lead S&E Workforce Development, Says NSB

"The Federal Government has primary responsibility to lead the Nation in developing and implementing a coordinated, effective response to our long-term needs for science and engineering skills in the U.S. workforce in ways unlikely to be addressed by market mechanisms or interventions at the state and local levels," concludes the National Science Board (NSB) in the draft final report of its Task Force on National Workforce Policies for Science and Engineering. The NSB is the governing board for the National Science Foundation.

Global competition for science and engineering talent is intensifying, the NSB finds, at the same time that the number of U.S. citizens entering the fields is likely to decline unless more is done to attract students in demographic groups traditionally underrepresented in science and engineering (S&E) disciplines.

Five major policy recommendations are presented:

• The federal government must direct substantial new support to students and institutions in order to improve success in S&E study by American undergraduates from all demographic groups.
• Federal support for research and graduate education should respond to the real economic needs of students and promote a wider range of educational options responsive to national skill needs.
• In partnership with other stakeholders, the federal government should act now to attract and retain an adequate cadre of well-qualified precollege teachers of mathematics, science and technology.
• During the current re-examination of visa and other policies concerning the mobility of scientists and engineers, it is essential that future U.S. policies strengthen the capacity of U.S. research universities to maintain their leadership in S&E education; support opportunities for U.S. students and faculty to participate in international education and research; and maintain the ability of the U.S. to attract internationally competitive researchers, faculty, and students, while accommodating national security concerns.
• To support development of effective S&E workforce policies and strategies, the federal government must increase substantially its investment in research to understand the dynamics of the international S&E workforce.  It also should lead efforts to build a base of information on the status of national S&E skill needs and strategies for attracting high-ability individuals to S&E careers.

The public is invited to provide comments on the draft report until July 1. The report is available at: http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/.