Building America’s STEM Workforce: Eliminating Barriers and Unlocking Advantages
Jan. 22, 2021
The APS Office of Government Affairs has released a new report titled “Building America’s STEM Workforce: Eliminating Barriers and Unlocking Advantages.”
It synthesizes a wide array of publicly available data and reports—complemented with surveys of physics department chairs and APS members—to generate an understanding of a set of current challenges and opportunities for action related to building America’s STEM workforce.
Once the uncontested global leader in science, technology, and innovation, the United States now faces a very different competitive landscape. The combination of increased competition for international talent and the nation’s inaction to address inequalities in education and research opportunities domestically is hindering the country’s role as a global leader in S&T and is jeopardizing the economic prosperity it generates.
The world is changing, and simply continuing the status quo will not suffice. Doing so will result in our nation’s scientific enterprise steadily losing its most critical R&D assets—talented human capital, both domestic and international, and the innovations they generate. Increased efforts and new evidence-based federal policies aimed at bolstering our overall STEM workforce are required to ensure the United States continues to be a global leader in science, technology and innovation.
To be clear, we are not facing a choice between bolstering either our domestic or international workforce. It is not an either/or decision. Challenges for both segments must be addressed to create the 21st century workforce needed to maintain America’s global leadership. We must increase the number of qualified STEM teachers to meet the needs of our high schools; broaden research opportunities for students from underrepresented groups in a sustainable manner; improve the atmosphere of our laboratories and work environments for women and underrepresented groups; and restore our country as the premiere destination of global talent through an intentional STEM visa and immigration policy that encourages the world’s best and brightest minds to come and stay in the United States.