The National Academies

06/27/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 06/27/2024 14:29

In State of the Science Address, NAS President Urges Improvements to K-12 Science Education in Order to Strengthen the U.S. STEM Workforce

Share

In State of the Science Address, NAS President Urges Improvements to K-12 Science Education in Order to Strengthen the U.S. STEM Workforce

Feature Story| June 27, 2024
In the inaugural "State of the Science" address, National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt recommended a range of actions to protect and strengthen U.S. global leadership in science - including improving K-12 science education to expand the domestic STEM workforce, modernizing university-industry research partnerships, and developing a national strategy to coordinate research.
Speaking on June 26 at the historic NAS building in Washington, D.C., McNutt offered a data-driven analysis of U.S. leadership in global research and development, identifying both troubling trends and steps that the nation can take to ensure that its science remains strong.
"U.S. science is perceived to be - and is - losing the race for global STEM leadership," McNutt said. However, she expressed confidence that the nation can counter that trend by adapting its R&D model to the emerging research environment. "Our country has a remarkable ability to adapt, and to learn, and to try new things."
Since World War II, U.S. public investments in science have driven economic and job growth and led to many new products that have improved Americans' quality of life, McNutt said. Being a global leader has enabled the U.S. to effectively protect its national security, benefit from economic growth, establish ethics and standards for the deployment of new technologies, and exercise soft power and diplomacy.
But data on the status of U.S. scientific leadership reveals "very worrying trends," said McNutt. For example, while the U.S. still invests the most money in R&D, China's rate of investment in R&D is twice that of the U.S., and China is now on track to surpass U.S. investments. That investment is producing more research output - for instance, China's global share of drugs in phase I to III trials has grown from 4% in 2013 to 28%, and in the number of patents, China exceeded the U.S. around 2015 and is on a meteoric rise.
Such trends should prompt us to look at what has changed in U.S. and global science to rethink our current model, said McNutt.

'We have to build the scientific workforce of the future.'

One challenge, McNutt pointed out, is that U.S. science has become exceptionally dependent on international students. After finishing their educations, 65% of foreign students stay in the U.S. for at least 10 years. Foreign-born individuals currently make up 19% of all U.S. STEM workers and 43 percent of STEM workers at the Ph.D. level.
This is not likely to last, though. "As foreign nations increase their investment in R&D, it's going to be harder to get foreign students to come here, to study here, and to stay here," said McNutt. "So, we have to start drawing on the full creativity of America."
Key to developing the domestic STEM workforce is improving K-12 science education, explained McNutt. Currently, more than 35% of U.S. eighth graders are not proficient in math according to U.S. standards. By international standards, the U.S. ranks middle-of-the-pack in science and below the middle in math. Teachers are burdened with very large class sizes, and may be unsure of the best way to teach content they might not be comfortable with.
Too often, children are taught that science is a list of facts rather than a process that involves continual learning, said McNutt. Instead, we should nurture the innate curiosity of children and help them learn by actually being scientists. In addition, new technologies such as AI could help students learn and help overburdened teachers.
At the same time, the U.S. should strive to continue to attract global talent by reducing barriers for foreign-born students who do want to come here, said McNutt. Since 2015, students from many countries, from Canada to Peru, have increasingly faced denials when trying to get F-1 visas. "This is a problem we definitely need to fix," said McNutt.
We also should help those who choose to stay get work permits, she added. She noted the economic benefits of immigration, citing a 2022 study that found that over 43% of Fortune 500 companies were founded either by immigrants or their first-generation children.

Modernizing public-private partnerships

Another major change in the research landscape relates to how research is being funded, McNutt explained. While the U.S. government used to be the largest funder of scientific research, and retains a small lead in funding basic research, "industry now dominates R&D in America." The share of research funded by philanthropy has grown as well.
Industry focuses on research that yields profitable goods and services, and their work often pivots off opportunities suggested by basic research funded by the government. "We have an opportunity to better coordinate our existing resources for impact," said McNutt. The CHIPS and Science Act calls for such a national research strategy, which OSTP is working on and which offers the chance for greater coordination. As we strengthen planning, however, we shouldn't close off opportunities for serendipity in research, she added.
McNutt also stressed the importance of strengthening public-private partnerships. "We really have to get industries and universities working together, and I'm particularly concerned about AI," she said. "There's no topic for partnerships that might be more important than AI."
Industry currently is dominating research in AI, which can lead to problems and gaps, McNutt explained. "Challenges can arise when industry grabs an entire field, such that no one else is engaged in it," she said. "Industry's only going to explore one part of the AI space - the part of it that's going to lead to new tools and new products. It's less likely that they're going to explore applications that are just a social good … It's essential that nonprofit research also thrives."
She stressed the need to modernize rules of university engagement with industry, and to be alert to the possibility of conflicts of interest - "something that always undermines public trust in science." She pointed to the advantages of the consortium model, which doesn't advantage any single group.
McNutt's address was followed by a panel discussion that gathered experts from the scientific community to discuss themes from the speech and share ideas.
Six Opportunities to Strengthen U.S. Science
In her address, NAS President Marcia McNutt identified opportunities to improve U.S. scientific leadership:
Improve K-12 education. As competition for international talent increases, the nation should focus on developing its domestic workforce by strengthening K-12 science education.
Reduce red tape. The U.S. should lessen red tape that can serve as a barrier for foreign students who wish to study in the U.S., as well as for graduates who wish to remain in the U.S. and work. Regulatory burden should also be reduced for faculty researchers, who currently spend 40% of their non-teaching time on paperwork.
Create a national research strategy. Asindustry and philanthropy become major funders of research alongside government, there is an opportunity tocoordinate research for better impact.
Strengthenuniversity-industry partnerships. Rules of university engagement with industry should be modernized, while remaining alert to possible conflicts of interest, which undermine public trust in science.
Strengthen international partnerships. The U.S. should strengthen its partnerships with other countries, create well-communicated policies for where and when we should collaborate,and deploy procedures for evaluating the success of these collaborations.
Cultivate trust in science. Scientists should demonstrate that they are producing research that is credible, prudent, lacks bias, is self-correcting, and is beneficial - all qualities positively correlated with public support for science. Researchers at all levels should be rewarded for producing research that is excellent and trustworthy, and the research community should support excellence in communicating science to the public.

Recent News

New Class of RWJF Health Policy Fellows

Helping Children Thrive Through Complementary Feeding

Ending Unequal Treatment

Dill Named Transportation Research Record Editor-in-Chief

  1. Load More...