Science and Engineering Jobs

NSB Report Says U.S. Faces Scientist Shortage

Although the United States currently ranks among global leaders in high-tech exports and R&D spending, a National Science Board (NSB) report warns that the country could face a shortage of scientists in coming years.

The biennial report, Science and Engineering Indicators 2004, was delivered to the president with a companion piece, “An Emerging and Critical Problem of the Science and Engineering Labor Force,” that paints a bleak picture of the emerging U.S. science and engineering labor workforce.

The report observes “a troubling decline in the number of U.S. citizens who are training to become scientists and engineers, whereas the number of jobs requiring science and engineering training continues to grow.” It shows that the United States now ranks 17th among the nations surveyed in the share of 18-to-24-year olds who earn natural science and engineering degrees. In 1975, the United States ranked third.

The report notes that if current trends continue, the number of U.S. citizens qualified for science and engineering jobs would, at best, remain level in the midst of rising demand. It also projected that the availability foreign-born scientists and engineers will decline, either because of “limits to entry imposed by U.S. national security restrictions or because of intense global competition for people with these skills”.

Skilled foreign labor has helped fill the current gap. U.S. census data from 2000 shows approximately 17% of people with bachelor’s degrees, 29% of master’s degrees, and 38% of doctorate degrees employed in science and engineering occupation are foreign-born (up from the 1990 numbers: 11%, 19%, and 24%, respectively). The number of foreign-born computer scientists and mathematicians in the U.S. workforce has doubled since 1990.

However, the report notes that the influx of foreign-born skilled labor is slowing down. Visas for students and scientists and engineers “have been issued more slowly since the events of September 11, owing to both increased security restrictions and a drop in applications.” The U.S. State Department issued 20 % fewer visas for foreign students in 2001 than in 2000, and the rate fell further between 2001 and 2002. Meanwhile, the number of jobs requiring advanced science and engineering skills is growing almost 5% annually.

At the same time, other countries, especially in Europe and Asia, have increased their investment in science and engineering education at higher rates than the United States and are continuing to develop enticing opportunities for their homegrown talent.
 
The 24-member federal advisory panel concluded that if immediate action is not taken to reverse these trends, U.S. research and education institutions may be irreparably damaged by 2020, and that “their preeminence has been lost to other areas of the world.”

“Quality education in math and science is everyone's challenge and responsibility,” the NSB writes. “The nation's economic welfare and security are at stake.”