Study Says US Needs Fewer Science Students

cremeglace writes "It's an article of faith: the United States needs more native-born students in science and other technical fields. But a new paper by sociologists at the Urban Institute and Rutgers University contradicts the notion of a shrinking supply of native-born talent in the United States. In fact, the supply has actually remained steady over the past 30 years, the researchers conclude, while the highest-performing students in the pipeline are opting out of science and engineering in greater numbers than in the past, suggesting that the threat to American economic competitiveness comes not from inadequate science training in school and college but from a lack of incentives that would make science and technology careers attractive. Cranking out even more science graduates, according to the researchers, does not give corporations any incentive to boost wages for science/tech jobs, which would be one way to retain the highest-performing students."

Comments

Re:Thanks for the link.

[megaditto]

Here is the original quote I replied to in my post with links here

The reason for this situation is that science funding by the federal government has been more or less flat for about a decade but the number of professors has increased and the expectations of the universities from professors have gone up.

So when I insert [flat for] into your "about a decade" is an exaggeration, you cry foul?
Sorry guy, but your ability to follow a conversation just plain sucks. And so does your crying over a strawman, while you are the first to bring politics into our discussion (Bush in GP, and now Fox News).

But going back to facts, NIH funding did double in one decade, with 60% growth under Bush (15 to 24 billion from 2000 to 2008). And you complaining about Bush given the decade doubling is like me saying Well, I got a buffet dinner 4 hours ago, but they were starving me after that (except for a few snacks).

Since this is all going to get modded down, let me bring in a strawman of my own: the reason I support increasing skilled immigration is because we need someone to do actual work and create value, to give handouts and support to the dumb crybaby liberals like yourself.