The Myth of the Science and Engineering Shortage

[finehoe]

Everyone knows that the United States has long suffered from widespread shortages in its science and engineering workforce, and that if continued these shortages will cause it to fall behind its major economic competitors. Everyone knows that these workforce shortages are due mainly to the myriad weaknesses of American K-12 education in science and mathematics, which international comparisons of student performance rank as average at best.

Such claims are now well established as conventional wisdom. There is almost no debate in the mainstream. They echo from corporate CEO to corporate CEO, from lobbyist to lobbyist, from editorial writer to editorial writer. But what if what everyone knows is wrong? What if this conventional wisdom is just the same claims ricocheting in an echo chamber?

A compelling body of research is now available, from many leading academic researchers and from respected research organizations such as the National Bureau of Economic Research, the RAND Corporation, and the Urban Institute. No one has been able to find any evidence indicating current widespread labor market shortages or hiring difficulties in science and engineering occupations that require bachelors degrees or higher, although some are forecasting high growth in occupations that require post-high school training but not a bachelors degree. All have concluded that U.S. higher education produces far more science and engineering graduates annually than there are S&E job openings—the only disagreement is whether it is 100 percent or 200 percent more. Were there to be a genuine shortage at present, there would be evidence of employers raising wage offers to attract the scientists and engineers they want. But the evidence points in the other direction: Most studies report that real wages in many—but not all—science and engineering occupations have been flat or slow-growing, and unemployment as high or higher than in many comparably-skilled occupations. 

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/03/the-myth-of-the-science-and-engineering-shortage/284359/

[spuwho]

The shortage is with scientists and engineers who will work for a lower pay scale. That is where the issue is.

This is why the CEO's are pushing for more H1-B visas.

This is also why the corporates are pushing basic research further and further into the realm of higher education. A corporate sponsorship of a research program is infinitely cheaper than paying hired talent to perform the same work.

Universities are throwing scholarships at science valedictorians so they can keep the research dollars flowing from Fortune 500.

There is a myth shortage in engineering like there is a myth shortage in IT. It's not about availability, it's about compensation.

[civil42806]

Don't sweat it Common Core will dumb down the kids enough that there will be shortages in 20 years

[IrvAdams]

Interesting article but I'll have to disagree, maybe it differs in areas of the country but if you're trained in Web or other current software skill sets your prospects are excellent, at least here in the South, anyway. I would strongly recommend IT to a young college-bound kid, along with maybe a medical course of study, so they can care for us aging Baby Boomers!

[finehoe]

Interesting article but I'll have to disagree...

Can you elaborate on why you disagree?

[acme54321]

Yeah,

I graduated ME in 2009 and if anything it was the other way around.  Not enough jobs.  I know a number of people that either went back to grad school, found jobs in other fields, or took a year to find a job.

[carpnter]

Yeah,

I graduated ME in 2009 and if anything it was the other way around.  Not enough jobs.  I know a number of people that either went back to grad school, found jobs in other fields, or took a year to find a job.

In 2009 the economy was in the tank.

[IrvAdams]

Interesting article but I'll have to disagree...

Can you elaborate on why you disagree?

Sorry, let me specify. Software Developer is my field and is the only area I can speak accurately on.

The article mentioned 7.8 percent unemployment in the software ranks and from what I've heard it's less than half that in this region. Of course, this is for trained and schooled talent. Fresh out of college could be tougher, but again, from what I've witnessed, still a very good major as companies are bringing them on all the time.

I work side by side with many young people as their first job out of school, and others who were self-taught and never attended college.

I can't speak to Engineering degrees, so don't take it as a blanket statement.