PREVIOUS WORKFORCE POLICY DIGEST

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August 2005

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Physics Enrollments and Degrees Growing

reported by Audrey T. Leath

A survey of the class of 2003 in physics departments around the country shows continued large increases in the number of undergraduate physics degrees produced, a "remarkably rapid rise" in the number of U.S. students starting physics graduate school, and, for the first time in almost a decade, an increase in the number of physics PhDs awarded . . .

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Graduate Enrollment in Science and Engineering Programs Up in 2003, but Declines for First-Time Foreign Students

by Julia Oliver

Graduate enrollment in science and engineering (S&E) programs reached an all-time high of 474,203 students in fall 2003 (table 1), a gain of 4 percent over S&E enrollment in 2002 and a gain of 9 percent over 1993. Between 2002 and 2003 S&E graduate enrollment increased by 19,311 students: 18,052 U.S. citizens and permanent visa holders and 1,259 temporary visa holders. U.S. institutions reported 33,685 postdoctoral appointees (postdocs) in S&E fields, also an all-time high.

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NIH Announces Final Ethics Rules

NIH Press Release
Ban on Outside Consulting with Industry Remains in Force . . .Three principles guided the crafting of the rules: 1. The public must be assured that research decisions made at NIH are based on scientific evidence and not by inappropriate influences. 2. Senior management and people who play an important role in research decisions must meet a higher standard of disclosure and divestiture than people who are not decision-makers. 3. To advance the science and stay on the cutting edge of research, NIH employees must be allowed interaction with professional associations, participation in public health activities, and genuine teaching opportunities. . .

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ITAA Says H1-B Cap Needs Significant Increase

ITAA Press Release

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) today said the federal government's announcement that it has already received enough H1-B petitions to reach next year’s (FY’06) cap underscores the need for a significant increase in the number of such visas allowed. Federal law currently caps the number of H1-B visas at 65,000 per year.

[A critique of the H1-B program (2004)] Needed Reform for the H-1B and L-1 Work Visas (and Relation to Offshoring)

Norman Matloff

. . .Due to a combination of H-1B, L-1 and offshoring, the American software developer will become extinct within the next few years. The percentage of new programmer jobs going to H-1Bs and L-1s has shown a sharp upward trend in recent years. . .

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More Women in Science

Summary by SEWP Staff

A report authored by leading scientists and university administrators has been published in the Policy Forum section of the journal Science. The article presents summary data highlighting the underrepresentation of women as tenured faculty in top departments of Natural Science and Engineering. The report notes that cognitive differences between men and women are a subject of debate, but dismisses them as a source for the paucity. The article enumerates and details "cultural issues that manifest in the behavior of individuals and the policies of institutions" which serve to discourage women from continuing along the "pipeline", such as work climate, unconscious bias, and family caretaking issues.

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July 2005

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The U.S. Research and Experimentation Tax Credit in the 1990s

by Fransciso Moris

. . . One of the better-known indirect federal incentives is the research and experimentation (R&E) tax credit for corporations, examined here. U.S. corporate claims for the R&E tax credit totaled an estimated $6.4 billion in 2001, the latest year for which data are available. From 1990 to 2001 the annual dollar amount of R&E tax credit claims grew twice as fast as company and other nonfederally funded R&D expenditures (industry-funded R&D), after adjusting for inflation. In contrast, direct federal funding for industrial R&D declined throughout the 1990s, both in absolute terms and relative to industry-funded R&D. . .

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Shift in Senate Thinking on Climate Change

by Richard M. Jones

. . . Climate change has long been a staple of congressional hearings, with the discussion following generally well-established lines. A Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing last week indicates that a new approach may be forming, with some key senators not arguing about whether the Earth is warming, but rather seeking effective and affordable solutions to global climate change. The significance of this hearing is better understood when viewed with earlier debate on the Senate floor about what action the United States should take on global climate change. . .

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NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress Three Decades of Student Performance in Reading and Mathematics

NAEP Press Release

The national trend in mathematics shows improvement at ages 9 and 13 from 1973 to 2004, but few changes over the years among 17-year olds. Both 9- and 13-year-olds had higher average scores in 2004 than in any previous assessment year. For 17-year-olds, there were no significant differences between the average score in 2004 and those in 1973 or 1999.

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A dire global imbalance in creativity

by Richard Florida
. . . The advanced nations have been living far beyond their capacity to generate talent and have essentially been borrowing from other places to fuel their growth and prosperity. This talent deficit is now growing for two reasons. First, around the world, a large share of the existing creative workforce is ageing and set to retire. Second, the advanced countries are not producing the talent they need in critical areas of science and technology. . .

(Comment on Florida) Why I Don't Love Richard Florida

by Karrie Jacobs
In classifying a whole host of occupations as "creative," our leading pop economist overstates the influence of urban professionals. . .

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Citing "Critical Situation" in Science and Math, Business Groups Urge Approval of New National Agenda for Innovation

Business Roundtable Press Release

. . .“The critical situation in American innovation threatens to undermine our standard of living at home and our leadership in the world,” said John J. Castellani, President of Business Roundtable, which organized the business groups in this effort. “We cannot wait for another Sputnik to propel our energy forward in this area. . .

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June 2005

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Societies Call for NSB Panel on Science Education

by Audrey T. Leath

. . . On May 24, the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition sent a letter to National Science Board Chairman Warren Washington, urging the Board's assistance "in protecting the future of the STEM education and research programs at NSF," and suggesting such a commission or blue-ribbon panel. The letter adds that "funding of STEM education programs and research should be restored without diminishing essential support for the research directorates." . . .

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New Report: COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE: ENSURING AMERICA’S COMPETITIVENESS

OSTP Press Release

. . . The report also recommends that the Federal government establish national software sustainability centers; provide long-term support for computational science data and software repositories; support national high-end computing leadership centers; implement coordinated,long-term computational science programs to connect these centers and repositories; and rebalance R&D investments to focus on the most pressing needs of computational science –improved software, new hardware architectures, and sensor- and data-intensive applications. . .

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Unclear on American Campus: What the Foreign Teacher Said

by Alan Finder

. . .With a steep rise in the number of foreign graduate students in the last two decades, undergraduates at large research universities often find themselves in classes and laboratories run by graduate teaching assistants whose mastery of English is less than complete. . . The issue is particularly acute in subjects like engineering, where 50 percent of graduate students are foreign born, and math and the physical sciences, where 41 percent of graduate students are, according to a survey by the Council of Graduate Schools, an association of 450 schools. . .

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NAE Public Discussion: Out-sourcing/Off-shoring of Engineering Jobs

by Wm. A. Wulf
. . .starting salaries for fresh BS engineers are neither significantly moving up (ergo indicating a shortage), nor significantly declining (ergo indicating an oversupply), but (a) starting BS salaries are 1.5-2 times that of a student with a fresh BA. (b) The average engineering salary is roughly equal to that of lawyer.(c) Taken together these say to me that employers see value in US engineers . . .

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(In the UK) More university science courses likely to close

by Richard Garner

The closure of more university courses in key subjects such as maths and science are inevitable, the head of the Government's higher education funding watchdog said. . . Since 1997, nearly one in three physics courses has closed, leaving just 50 around the country. . .

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May 2005

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House Approves Boehlert Fusion Amendment

Boehlert made the following statement on the floor to explain his amendment: " . . .I support U.S. participation in ITER, a critical experiment that will help determine, finally, if fusion is a realistic option for energy production. . . .But ITER is expensive. The U.S. contribution is expected to exceed $1 billion. And I want to make sure that before we commit a dime to ITER that we have a consensus on how we will find that money."

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NIAID Awards First $27 Million Using New Bioshield Authorities

NIAID News Office

"The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded 10 grants and 2 contracts totaling approximately $27 million to fund development of new therapeutics and vaccines against some of the most deadly agents of bioterrorism including anthrax, botulinum toxin, Ebola virus, pneumonic plague, smallpox and tularemia."

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Recommendations for Enhancing the U.S. Visa System to Advance America's Scientific and Economic Competitiveness and National Security Interests

National Academies Presidents

"Despite significant recent improvements to the U.S. visa system, considerable barriers remain that continue to fuel the misperception that our country does not welcome these international visitors, who contribute immensely to our nation's economy, national security, and higher education and scientific enterprises. These misperceptions must be dispelled soon, or we risk irreparable damage to our competitive advantage in attracting international students, scholars, scientists, and engineers, and ultimately to our nation's global leadership.

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The Green Chemistry Bill

by Jim Kling
If passed, the bill's commitment to education will also help bolster the field. "The curriculum changes encouraged through this program will assure that students are familiar with green chemistry and ready to enter the workforce with skills in pollution prevention and green design," said Representative Bart Gordon (TN), in support of the 2004 bill.

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Chairman Wolf Urges Bush to Triple Federal R&D Funding by Next Decade

by Richard M. Jones

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) has sent a letter to President George Bush asking him "to develop the necessary consensus that will ensure America will remain the world's leader in innovation" by a "tripling [of] the innovation budget - federal basic research and development - over the next decade."

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April 2005

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A Bill to Watch: Incentives for Undergraduate Science/Math/Eng. Students

By Richard M. Jones

"High profile Members of the House and Senate have introduced legislation providing financial incentives for undergraduate study in mathematics, science or engineering. Under this legislation, the federal government would pay the interest on student loans for undergraduates agreeing to teach science, technology, engineering or mathematics in elementary or secondary schools or who work as a professional in these fields for five years..."

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FY 2006: A funding squeeze. The administration's budget presents challenges for psychology.

APA's Public Policy Office

"President George W. Bush sent Congress a $2.57 trillion federal budget for fiscal year (FY) 2006 in February that calls for the deepest domestic reductions proposed since the 1980s. The president's budget eliminates 99 programs (a reduction of $8.8 billion) and substantially reduces 55 others (a reduction of $6.5 billion) for a total decrease of $15.3 billion. Many of these cuts were proposed in previous budgets and then rejected by Congress. . . "

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NIH Should Take Decisive Steps to Promote Independence, Originality Among New Biomedical Investigators

Press Release from NIH

"The National Institutes of Health can foster independence among postdoctoral scholars, entry-level faculty, staff scientists, and other new investigators in biomedical research by improving their training and giving them more resources to pursue their own projects, says a new report from the National Academies' National Research Council. For example, NIH should provide postdocs and early-career investigators with more financial support for their own studies, and limit the maximum length of time they can spend in training under senior NIH-funded scientists to a total of five years. . ."

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AAAS S&T Policy Forum To Explore American Workforce Challenges

by Earl Lane

". . .Anthony P. Carnevale, a senior fellow at the National Center on Education and the Economy in Washington, said the United States will face a shortage of science and technology workers as baby boomers retire. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics also has projected a general shortage in the number of workers in America with bachelor's degrees and advanced degrees, said Carnevale. . ."

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Keys to Independence in the UK and Ireland

By Anne Forde and Elisabeth Pain

"Funding bodies are coming to the aid of young scientists with a variety of programs aimed at helping them become independent investigators. Scientific independence--the freedom to pursue one's own research ideas--is the dream of many ambitious young scientists. But postdocs everywhere find it difficult to escape their indenture and go their own way . . ."

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March 2005

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New Report on Women in Physics and Astronomy

By Martha Heil

"The percentage of women holding faculty positions in physics and astronomy is consistent with the percentage of women who earned degrees in those fields in the past, according to a new report by the Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics. "The most provocative thing about this report is the finding that women are not under-represented on physics and astronomy faculties, as most people assume," said Dr. Rachel Ivie, the study's author. . ."

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Offshoring Is Major Cause of Technical Unemployment,IEEE-USA Survey Reveals

"Offshoring is the second-highest cause of unemployment among U.S. technical professionals, according to the 2004 IEEE-USA Unemployment Survey released today. The leading cause of unemployment, cited by 62 percent of U.S. IEEE members who reported being laid off, was a business downturn. Fifteen percent reported that their jobs were transferred offshore, while 10 percent pegged merger or acquisition as the cause of their layoff."

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AAAS and Allied Science Groups See Dramatic Improvement in U.S. Visa System

By Edward W. Lempinen

"Nearly a year after they urged broad reform in the U.S. visa system, AAAS and allied organizations say the federal government has dramatically reduced the obstacles faced by foreign students and scholars who want to study or work here."

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NIH Announces Sweeping Ethics Reform

By Lorraine M. Campos and Darvin E. Williams

"The National Institutes of Health ("NIH") recently announced sweeping supplemental ethics regulations that will change how pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies interact with employees of the NIH. . . . Although the new rules require extensive disclosures from NIH employees, and violations carry a broad range of penalties, the new rules impose no legal reporting requirements on pharmaceutical and drug companies. However, these companies, as well as health care providers, health care insurers, and other entities, could be substantially impacted by the new rules being enforced."

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The Status of Native Americans in Science and Engineering

Updated by Eleanor Babco

". . . this report explores the tremendous growth of the Native American population in the 20th century, and looks at the progress this population has made in high school diploma and college degree attainment. Utilizing data from the National Science Foundation, the National Center for Education Statistics, the 2000 Census, and other sources, this publication provides an overview of Native American high school mathematics and science course-taking, SAT scores, educational attainment, precollege education, and higher education."

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February 2005

This period saw many articles related to Larry Summers's comments at the SEWP Conference at NBER, Diversifying the S&E Workforce. The transcript of Dr. Summers's speech is available at the Harvard website.

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Tight Budget Times: DOE Office of Science FY06 Request

By Audrey T. Leath

"The underlying theme at the release of the Department of Energy's FY 2006 budget request was the need to rein in federal spending. The total DOE budget would drop 2.0 percent under President Bush's FY 2006 budget request, from $23.9 billion in FY 2005 to $23.4 billion..."

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Annual Meeting Researchers to Explore Global Attitudes on Science

By Michaela Jarvis

"In a new meta-analysis comparing the public's perception of science across 40 nations, researchers have found extensive areas of similarity in how people think of science, particularly regarding the broader issues such as whether science and technology improve the quality of life. There's very little cross-cultural variation.
This was a surprise," said Nick Allum of the University of Surrey . . ."

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U.S. MAY BE ABANDONING LEADERSHIP IN SCIENCE, INNOVATION,BUSINESS AND ACADEMIC LEADERS WARN

Press Release for a new report by the The Task Force on the Future of American Innovation

"The Task Force on the Future of American Innovation, a coalition of high-tech industry, scientific societies, and higher education associations, warned today that the United States is in danger of losing its leadership role in science and innovation, a position it has held with a firm grip since the end of World War II."

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National Science and Technology Council Report Examines Role of Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences in Combating Terrorism

". . . this is the first NSTC report on the role of the social and behavioral sciences (which include psychology, sociology, anthropology, geography, linguistics, statistics, and statistical and data mining) in helping the American public and its leaders to understand the causes of terrorism and how to counter terrorism. The focus of the report is on how these sciences can help us to predict, prevent, prepare for and recover from a terrorist attack or ongoing terrorists’ threats."

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NIH Calls on Scientists to Speed Public Release of Research Publication

Press Release from NIH

"With the rapid growth in the public's use of the Internet, NIH must take a leadership role in making available to the public the research that we support," said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. "While this new policy is voluntary, we are strongly encouraging all NIH-supported researchers to release their published manuscripts as soon as possible for the benefit of the public. Scientists have a right to see the results of their work disseminated as quickly and broadly as possible, and NIH is committed to helping our scientists exercise this right. We urge publishers to work closely with authors in implementing this policy."

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January 2005

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Services account for growing share of R&D in OECD countries

" . . . More so than before, science, technology and innovation policies need to adapt to the needs of the service sector and increased globalisation. Services account for a growing share of R&D in OECD countries – 23% of total business R&D in 2000 compared to 15% in 1991 – and the ability of service sector firms to innovate will greatly influence overall growth, productivity and employment patterns . . . " (234 pages, purchase or subscription required)

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(Commentary) Rejecting the Next Bill Gates

By Fareed Zakaria

"Foreigners make up more than half the students enrolled in science and engineering programs. The dirty little secret about America's scientific edge is that it's largely produced by foreigners and immigrants. . . . Americans don't do science anymore."

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Congress Trims Money for Science Agency

By ROBERT PEAR

" Congress has cut the budget for the National Science Foundation, an engine for research in science and technology, just two years after endorsing a plan to double the amount given to the agency. . . The $388 billion spending bill for the current fiscal year, approved by both houses of Congress on Nov. 20, provides $5.473 billion for the National Science Foundation, which is $105 million less than it got last year and $272 million less than President Bush requested. . . . "

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(Infobrief) More Than One-Fifth of All Individuals Employed in Science and Engineering Occupations Have Less Than a Bachelor's Degree Education

by John Tsapogas

"More than four million individuals with at least a high school education were employed in science and engineering (S&E) occupations in the United States as of April 2003. Within this group, a substantial proportion, 22 percent, reported either a high school diploma (5 percent) or an associate's degree (17 percent) as their highest level of educational attainment."

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