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You
may not realize that there has been a steady decline in
the numbers of college students pursuing engineering and
other science and technology degrees in this country.
In fact, only 8.3% of all high school students in the
U.S. intend to major in engineering according to the College
Board. This leads to an important question: How will America
retain - and some would even go so far as to say, regain
- its global technological preeminence? Where will the
engineers of the future come from?
In 2004, only 17.7% women; 6% African Americans and 8.4%
Hispanics and less than 1% American Indians were enrolled
in U.S. engineering schools The underrepresentation of
women and minorities in engineering and science was the
topic at a panel discussion sponsored by the Congressional
Black Caucus Legislative Conference (CBC) in Washington,
D.C. Dr. Shirley Malcolm, director of Education and Human
Resources of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science, observed, "The challenge is that the...overall
workforce doesn't match the makeup of the science, math
and engineering workforce…We understand that we have
to draw much more from the talent base from [diverse]
groups: women of all races and ethnic groups, underrepresented
minorities and people with disabilities."
It
is interesting to note that women and minorities are
better represented in other professional fields. Women
receive nearly 50% of law and medical degrees, and slightly
more than 40% of science doctorates and professional
business degrees (e.g. MBA) compared with 18% of engineering
Ph.D. degrees. Minority students receive approximately
14% of law, medical and professional business degrees,
and 6% science doctorates compared with 3% engineering
doctorates.
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