Another day, another report. This one is called "Tapping America's Potential: The Education for Innovation Initiative" and comes from "fifteen of our country's most prominent business organizations". Summary: don't wait for the next Sputnik to get us off our asses, just realize it would be good to have a technologically literate and competent workforce, without having the Commies to motivate you.
(Well, it has been said before, but I'll say it again, in slightly different wording: if we were just a tad less efficient at turning women, minority men, and lower-income students away from the doors of our science and engineering classrooms, we'd probably have all the science and engineering talent we could use.)
With the Commies gone, we can turn to our good friend Xenophobia. On the one hand, the report's authors do lament U.S. security concerns and competition from elsewhere in the world that make it difficult to attract the best global talent; reform visa and immigration policies! On the other hand, dire statistics are cited to scare us into action. South Korea: 1/6 our population, just as many engineers! In 5 years, 90% of all engineers and scientists - living in Asia! Yellow Peril! More than 50% of doctoral degrees go to foreign nationals! NOOOOOOO!
I agree we have a problem attracting young people to science and engineering careers. There is surely a problem with a science and engineering culture that is unwelcoming to members of so many different groups. I'd just like to point out that there are different ways the "crisis" could have been framed in this report - ways that are a tad less xenophobic. Regarding the doctoral degree figure: one could just survey the percentage of domestic bachelor's students going on for a PhD over the last 50 years and analyze the trend. Is the significant piece of data how many doctoral degrees go to foreign nationals - or do we really want to say, fewer and fewer domestic students care to pursue a PhD each year? It's all in where you put the emphasis.
One last question: If I am a first generation Korean-American studying engineering at a U.S. university, how would the attitudes on display in this report affect me and my relations with my white classmates? Bonus points if you consider gender in your answer.
4:11:36 PM 
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