In 1970, half of the engineers in the world were American. Many were in Ohio, where much of the early technology that sent Neil Armstrong to the moon was developed. Flash forward to 2006. This year China will graduate over 600,000 new engineers. India, 300,000. The U.S. will graduate just over 70,000 new engineers, nearly half of these will be foreigners.
Those are just some of the findings in this troubling report.
Ohio, a once-proud home to inventors, engineers and manufacturers, fares even worse than the nation as a whole. The state has slipped to 32nd in the nation in the number of bachelor degrees in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics awarded per 100,000 residents.
Businesses are aware of this lack of preparation. And students know it as well. The report found that 62 percent of college students wished they had taken more challenging courses in core areas in high school. Of the students who didn’t go on to college, 72 percent wish they had tougher courses in high school as well.
The report, in an urgent plea to policy-makers and business leaders, says, “This is no small challenge. And the clock is ticking.” To learn more surf here.
“Taft’s $13.2M Proposal to Boost Ohio’s Math, Science Education,” by William Hershey, The Dayton Daily News, May 9, 2006.
