Excerpts: Science and Engineering Indicators 2002
Research and Development (R&D)
"The United States has managed to turn its R&D
strengths to its economic and commercial benefit.
Industry's recognition of the importance of research
and development to profit growth is reflected in the
strong expansion of its own R&D spending (in the
1990s)." - From Overview - See Chapter 4
"Changes in antitrust regulations, intellectual
property policy, and technology transfer have
fostered a new setting for collaborative research
since the early 1980s. These changes have paralleled
policy and market trends in other advanced economies,
contributing to a national and global economy
increasingly dependent on knowledge-based competition
and networking." - From Chapter 4
Global economic impact
"Governments and firms around the world have taken
note of ...perceived U.S. strengths (and) initiated
broad, national and regional efforts to capture similar
benefits...these developments have reflected a growing
conviction that some kind of new reality...a "knowledge-based"
economy (that is) marked by the systematic generation,
distribution, and use of research knowledge for economic
gain..." From Overview - See Chapter 6
"The current position of the United States as the
world's leading producer of high-technology products
reflects its success in both supplying a large
domestic market and serving foreign markets…The
same conditions that create new business opportunities-the
growing global technological capacity and the
relaxation of restrictions on international business-can
also create new research opportunities. The well-funded
institutes and technology-oriented universities
that are being established in many technologically
emerging areas of the world will advance scientific
and technological knowledge and lead to new collaborations
between U.S. and foreign researchers." - From
Chapter 6
"More R&D collaborations can be expected to
develop with Internet-facilitated innovations
such as virtual research laboratories and the
simultaneous use of distributed virtual data banks
by investigators around the globe." - From
Chapter 4
Foreign-born scientists and engineers
"As new centers of technological excellence arise,
firms and universities in the United States may find
it increasingly difficult to recruit scientists and
engineers from abroad... foreign students may increasingly
return home after their training, and U.S. firms may
find it advantageous to locate technically sophisticated
functions overseas. These potential developments bear
watching, because they would affect U.S. policies
that support S&T and the education and training
of the domestic S&E workforce." - From Overview
- See Chapters 2-3
"Natural sciences and engineering (NS&E) command
special attention because of their importance
to the conduct of much of the nation's R&D
and to the development of industrial innovation.
Other countries are building up the NS&E capabilities
of their younger cohorts at a greater rate than
the United States...They have been able to raise-by
large increments-the rate at which their college-age
youth earn first university NS&E degrees."
- From Overview
"Each year from 1986 to 1996, the number of foreign
students earning S&E doctoral degrees from
universities in the United States increased; it
declined every year thereafter." - From Chapter
2
"Although the number of foreign doctoral recipients
planning to stay in the United States increased
in the 1990s, opportunities are expanding for
returning to their home countries or for collaborative
research and networking with home-country scientists."
- From Chapter 2
Potential impacts of international growth in science
and engineering
"If other countries and regions build up their indigenous
S&T; capabilities, they may diminish the relative attractiveness
of the United States as a destination country."
"If (other countries) can build indigenous S&T
infrastructures and economies to exploit the fruits
of S&T, domestic labor market needs may entice
more of their scientists and engineers to stay at
home rather than to seek work abroad. They may also
attract investments from foreign firms seeking access
to their labor and markets. Thus, traditional donor
countries may be able to moderate the outflow of their
scientists and engineers.
"If other countries begin looking abroad to supplement
their labor pools, particularly in high technology
areas, the United States may have more difficulty
attracting and retaining foreign scientists and engineers."
- From Overview
Ph.D. impact of women/minorities/non-citizens
"At the highest level of S&E training, the United
States has relied heavily on non-citizens, U.S. women,
and small but growing numbers of minority students
of both sexes to sustain its degree production...without
(their) increasing participation the number of S&E
doctorates would have stagnated or declined. The reasons
for the relative disappearance of U.S. majority males
from these fields, including lack of interest and
the attractiveness and availability of alternatives,
remain largely unexplored." - From Overview, See
Chapter 2
K-16 Education
"Despite greater numbers of students aiming for college,
some college faculty are concerned that today's students
are less well prepared in mathematics than previous
generations of students. College-level remediation
is also on the rise, and policymakers are increasingly
concerned about the number of students needing to
take remedial courses in college." - Chapter 1
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