American innovation drives our economic strength and is essential to our national security.By order of Congress, the National Science Board announced earlier this month. Indicators of the current state of science and engineering in the United States The report shows that an accelerating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics talent crisis is putting America’s economy and security at risk.
Let’s start with a little perspective. The US STEM workforce is now a quarter of the total US workforce, with 38 million people at all degree levels in work, including 19 million skilled technical workers without a bachelor’s degree. using his STEM skills. That number will further increase as companies expand their STEM talent and R&D investments in response to increased global competition. The CHIPS & Science Act currently funds one response to global competition and national security risks: reshoring semiconductor production.
We need new policies that strengthen and leverage one of our nation’s greatest strengths: attracting and retaining top STEM talent from around the world.
Meanwhile, key technology sectors such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity face major challenges in filling urgently needed jobs and turning the promise of economic development into reality.
China is starting to turn in our favor and has made clear plans to further increase R&D investment. index Data shows that China has recently surpassed the United States in research publications and patent applications, with growth in high-impact articles outpacing overall publication growth. These overall trends also apply to the specific field of artificial intelligence, an area critical to national security. We can’t risk falling behind.
We have to deal with this crisis now. how?
First, we must increase the flow of domestic talent into STEM talent. First, Congress will fully fund the remainder of the CHIPS & Science Act to expand the STEM workforce, from pre-K-12 education to skilled technical workers, STEM college graduates, and doctoral-level researchers in industry and academia. It is necessary to invest in the development of Sadly, the spending bill that Congress just passed will set us back by cutting some of our most important federal science agencies, such as the National Science Foundation.
Second, we need new policies to attract and retain top STEM talent from around the world, including from emerging science partner countries, which is one of our greatest strengths. We need to do more to ensure that science and engineering students can work in the United States after earning their degrees.
Third, we need a modern National Defense Education Act to foster public-private collaboration and provide the specific skills and talent needed by American industry.
The improved NDEA: Invest in K-12 STEM education and increase the supply of STEM teachers across the country. Build the capacity of entry points to STEM training across the country, including community colleges, technical schools, and other geographically and financially accessible institutions. Expand graduate fellowship programs focused on critical and emerging technologies. Create national service programs like the Defense Civilian Training Corps and increase scholarships for low-income people. Increase options and reduce barriers for foreign-born STEM talent to stay after education and training.
This is a national call to action. We all need to work together. No group alone can solve this problem. Business, government and academia will need to come together in collaborative partnerships and commitments that go far beyond the scale of their current investments. Failure to do so risks ceding U.S. science and engineering leadership to China, with serious and lasting negative consequences for our national security and economic competitiveness.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published by RealClear Defense and made available via RealClearWire.
