Issue 17 summer 09

PDF Downloads This article All articles in issue 017 Create 'My eIQ' Email send via email Contact EIRMA send us a message Diagrams Percentage of S&T students 1993–2003, average annual change

% S&T entrants

% S&T graduates

% S&T PhD

Links OECD report Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development Jan-Eric SundgrenAnneli Pauli DG Research Hungarian Academy of ScienceUS National Science Foundation Eurobarometer JA-YE EuropeSiemens Solvay Siemens’ Yolante programEuropean Round Table of Industrialists Martin Schuurmans European Institute of Innovation and Technology

Young people in developed economies respect science and its works, but don’t want to become scientists, according to a recent report by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). For some high-technology industries, this means that the pool of local talent from which they can recruit is shrinking, increasing the cost of R&D and limiting the pace at which they can develop their businesses.

Industry knows there’s a problem. Jan-Eric Sundgren, senior vice president for public and environmental affairs and a member of the group executive committee of the Volvo Group, opened a panel discussion on attracting young people into science at EIRMA’s annual conference by pointing out that part of the issue is demographics.

He said that the number of 18-year-olds is set to decline by 21% between 1993 and 2022. The number of mathematics, science and technology graduates fell by 11% between 1998 and 2006. And the number of students going to university is stabilising.

But is this shortage of science and technology talent a general trend, or one that is only felt by certain industries in certain countries? The OECD report says that the absolute number of science and technology students has risen in line with increasing access to higher education, but that science and technology’s share of the secondary and tertiary student population has fallen in several OECD countries. Some may soon see an absolute decline in their output of science and technology students.

There are differences between disciplines. The number of students in physical sciences and mathematics is declining, but life sciences’ share of the total graduate population is stable, largely due to an influx of female students. Engineering student numbers are stable, thanks to a perception of good job prospects. And the study of computer science has increased dramatically, in line with the perceived opportunity.

The demographics

The uptake of science and technology education also varies by country. Between 1997 and 2003, the number of upper secondary graduates taking science and technology increased steadily in Finland, Germany and Israel. Most other countries saw a decline: Korea’s science and technology student population fell 30% between 1997 and 2003.

At the tertiary level, the percentage of graduates in science and technology disciplines declined in 10 countries out of 17 between 1993 in 2003. The trend is worse at doctoral level, with all but three countries showing a decline. The number of science and technology doctorates awarded has declined by 25% in France since 1996, 15% in Germany since 2000, and by 15% in the US between 1996 and 2001.

There is some good news. Women now make up between 20 and 30% of science and technology students in most countries. Unfortunately the increase in the proportion of female students slows as it approaches 40%, leading some analysts to suggest there is a ‘limit’ on women’s engagement with science and technology education.

The issue

Why does this matter? Can’t companies expand outside their home countries to reach the talent they need? To some extent, yes. But the competition for talent is global, and Europe’s need, in particular, is great. Some analysts say that for Europe to meet the Lisbon Agenda goals, it would need to recruit 700,000 extra researchers on top of the number needed to replace retirees.

Anneli Pauli, the deputy director-general of DG Research at the European Commission, told the EIRMA Annual Conference that Europe has a strong base but is “a little bit stuck”.

“If we don’t get the talented people into this business we don’t have a future,” she said. The Commission’s response has been to try and modernise education, and promote research and innovation.

Norbert Kroó, vice president at the Hungarian Academy of Science, said: “We have to spend much more on research and education. If we don’t, then the young talents of Europe will go to the US to do their research there.”

Kroó painted a worrying picture of an EU that exports its research to the US and its manufacturing to Asia. What he aspires to, though, is “a Europe where research is strong, education is good and European industry tries to invest in European R&D.”

The attitude paradox

The paradox is that people value science, but don’t want to become scientists. Two studies of attitudes to science made in 2001, one by the US National Science Foundation and the other by the EU’s Eurobarometer service, showed largely positive results. For example, 86% of Americans and 71% of Europeans agreed that science and technology make our lives healthier, easier and more comfortable. And 86% of Americans agreed that science and technology makes work more interesting, while 71% of Europeans felt the same.

Children have similar attitudes. A 2006 survey of English secondary students found most agreeing that science and technology are important for society, and that their benefits are greater than the possible harmful effects. But they didn’t feel the same about school science courses, which they thought important, but did not like as much as other subjects. Surprisingly, most students did not agree that school science is difficult.

Schoolchildren and young adults seem unable to see a connection between what they want out of life and what a science or technology career offers. A 1998 study said that young people choose their careers on the basis of their passion for, and interest in, the work; working conditions, income and social position; and the security and stability of the profession.

Scientists are perceived as spending their days doing boring work in unpleasant surroundings, cut off from other people. Science careers appear insecure, due to the temporary nature of academic postings and international competition in business. Few students have an accurate understanding of science-related professions. Many are unaware of the range of career opportunities opened up by science and technology.

Choices

Children entering secondary education are usually interested in science and technology and positive about learning more or even choosing it as a career. But their interest declines as they grow older, and many of those who decide for or against a career in science have done so by age 14. By age 15, social conditioning and gender stereotypes are also having an impact.

Panel member Caroline Jenner, chief executive officer of JA-YE Europe, which promotes entrepreneurship and economic literacy among young people, said: “We need to start younger. Industry has to be present with schoolchildren when they are young. It’s a relationship problem here, not just the skills problem.”

Dietmar Theis, formerly of Siemens, said that efforts to create excitement about science and technology in kindergarten should be expanded.

“The education of teachers in kindergarten school should be more science and technology oriented,” he said, “for example, via sabbaticals in industry. The image in society of engineers should be much more positive.”

The lack of role models in science and technology, especially for young women, is also seen as contributing to their lack of engagement with the subject.

The curriculum

The OECD report says that children find that science teaching lacks a sense of community, involves too much competition and offers little room for discussion. Students feel they lack a good overview of a subject, so that they’re not sure the point of what they are learning. They also face ‘the tyranny of technique’, in which students choose science because they want to explore how the world works and then are disappointed to find most of their time devoted to problem solving.

Current curricula seem to have been written for the tiny minority who pursue their science studies to PhD level, rather than the majority who could benefit from a general understanding of science. There’s also concern that science is taught as separate disciplines, which doesn’t reflect students’ experience of the world or the multidisciplinary nature of modern research.

Léopold Demiddeleer, new EIRMA president, and future business director, Central Management Research and Technology at Solvay, said: “I taught physics at a private school for a while, without a formal program, and found that linking the disciplines while you teach is essential.”

What industry can do

Industry can help attract children and young people into science and technology careers, by engaging with schools to explain the excitement and relevance of science and technology, challenge stereotypes about career paths and working conditions, and provide positive role models, especially for young women.

Jenner, whose JA-YE Europe organisation reaches 2.9 million people and has 90,000 business people involved as role models, said: “There’s something wrong in our approach so far. Studies say that to engage young people you need something really simple but a real problem.

“I would invite companies to invest in going into the classroom. There’s so much difficulty in getting people to engage. We need to become the role model.

“If the distance is maintained between business and school it will be there forever. You have to engage in thousands. It’s time, not just money and materials.”

She pointed out the potential benefits of industrial engagement: “Role modelling is extremely important for impact. Companies that young people are familiar with are the ones that they want to work for.”

Theis said that Siemens has been engaging with schools for some time, starting at an early age: “We start at kindergarten with a ‘discovery box’ that is full of paraphernalia for kids to do science. We have distributed more than 10,000 of these world-wide to kindergartens, including instructions for the teacher.

“In school we also offer the Siemens media collection of books to support the normal curriculum aids. We also do science camps for girls only, because even at universities participation in engineering [is low] and the drop-out rate is very high among young women. So there are programs like Yolante, the Young Ladies’ Network of Technology, which is a mentoring scheme to help young women stay in that field in their early years.”

Demiddeleer sounds a practical warning: individual companies that approach schools can find it difficult to avoid being perceived as promoting their brand.

Jenner said: “It must be a concerted effort, between non-governmental organisations and associations, working with government and business to reach the student, otherwise they will get the wrong message.”

Sundgren added that the European Round Table of Industrialists thinks there is an increasing need for a partnership between industry and education. Business can provide career information, demonstrate that working in science and technology can offer people meaningful lives, and highlight worthwhile role models.

But he asked: “Do we know how to fund corporate involvement in primary and secondary schools? Do we know what we need? And is the European offer good enough?”

Entrepreneurship

Beyond the issue of developing science and technology talent, many in industry and policy groups think that Europe needs its people to be more entrepreneurial.

According to Martin Schuurmans, chairman of the governing board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), “the way we educate our people is to be an employee. Seldom is there a desire to be an employer or an entrepreneur. We leave that to the business schools.

“This has to change. In the US everyone wants to be an employer. In China everyone wants to be an employer. In Europe people just want to be employees. We have to build entrepreneurship into the science and engineering curriculum. Graduates need to learn to transform science knowledge into business.

“This is about the social impact and job creation, and turning brain drain into brain gain,” he added.

Bertrand Collomb, former CEO and current honorary chairman of Lafarge, said that European society has not rewarded entrepreneurship enough.

“We also need a system that means that rewards are shared by all participants. I believe innovation will be created by networks and so we should be thinking about how to reward throughout the value chain.”

Jenner pointed out that young people love to be creative and independent, so a career as a science and technology entrepreneur is a good fit for them.

“We have to learn to recognise their achievements and reward entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial spirit,” she said. “That way it will not be so negative to become an entrepreneur. There’s too much negative connotation and risk aversion there.”

And, as with creating a sense of wonder and excitement about the possibilities of science and technology, she said the key was to catch children early: “You can teach people to be entrepreneurial. If you work with them at a young age you can increase the proportion of people who will be entrepreneurial.”

Conclusions

There are many reasons why children who start out full of wonder and curiosity about the world turn away from science. Part of the problem is the way science is taught, with curricula that separate science from its impact on the world, one discipline from another, and children from each other as debate is set aside in the effort to teach theory. Children and young students also have little idea of what scientists do all day, lack role models and see the return on investing in a science career as poor. And although they see the value of science and technology to their societies, they don’t make the link between that value and their own involvement.

Industry can help address these issues by engaging at many levels: with schools, higher education establishments, through better communications about career prospects, and by promoting positive role models, especially for young women. Society has a role to play here too: in Turkey, which is rapidly increasing its investment in R&D, an engineer has higher social status that a doctor; in India, getting a science or engineering degree is seen as a privilege.

In the end, if developed societies cannot demonstrate how highly they value those who study, teach and practice science and technology, young people will continue to believe that science is undervalued. And then they will make choose other careers on that basis.

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