Pan-Organizational Summit on U.S. Science and Engineering Workforce

Pan-Organizational Summit on the U.S. Science and Engineering Workforce

Objective: To consolidate and showcase community views on the U.S. science and engineering workforce.

Audience: Congressional staff, high level policy makers, GUIRR and National Academies members, policy organizations and think tanks.

Background:

Despite growing and continuing concern about the low production of domestic science and engineering talent, there has been little movement in U.S. policy on the issue. While there have been many individual studies, each of which addresses a different piece of the problem, there has not yet been a concerted effort to compile policy prescriptions and recommendations and drive the result towards a communal prescription for change. Part of the problem is that the issue lacks visibility, because the organizations working on it are diffuse. A first step in addressing this need is to assemble the various organizations committed to the S&E workforce issue to create a cohesive presentation of their findings and recommendations.

On November 11-12, 2002, the National Academies’ Government University Industry Research Roundtable (GUIRR) will hold a pan-organizational summit on science and engineering workforce issues. Representatives from various non-profit groups focused on the issue are invited to attend and present their respective position papers on the topic of the U.S. Science and Engineering workforce. The summit will focus primarily on educational and societal forces that affect the high school through graduate school time frame.

The November 11-12 summit is intended to engage a significant number of disparate organizations, thereby demonstrating that the domestic S&E workforce is not an isolated issue of interest to only a few. The series of presented position statements will in turn bring to light the substantial amount of community effort that has been devoted to studying the issue and developing potential solutions. By highlighting the similarities and differences in community views, the summit can further delineate potential boundaries of a political consensus on US policy in this arena. After the summit, it is anticipated that the complete set of individually authored position statements will be bound into a proceedings, made available to the public, and debriefed to the press and Congressional staff. In addition, summit participants will be asked if they wish to sign themselves or their staff onto a communal listerv devoted to the topic of the U.S. science and engineering workforce, where events, reports, data, and questions can be circulated among the interested community.

All organizations working on the workforce issue are encouraged to present a position paper at the summit. The paper should represent the organization’s official policy statement on the S&E workforce issue and should be comprised primarily of findings and policy recommendations. The written version, to be included in the proceedings, should be no more than five pages in length and must be attributed to one or more members of the organization’s leadership on behalf of the organization. We encourage organizations to complete their written position papers by Oct. 7, to be included in the handout agenda, though copies may be brought to the Nov. 11-12 meeting instead. GUIRR will cover all reasonable travel expenses for each organization’s designated presenter.

Participating Organizations

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Alliance for Science and Technology Research in America
American Assoc. for the Advancement of Science
American Institute of Chemical Engineers
American Institute of Physics
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Engineering Education
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Building Engineering and Science Talent
Business-Higher Education Forum
Coalition of the Concerned
Commission on Professionals in Science & Technology
Council on Competitiveness
Educational Testing Service
Global Alliance
Industrial Research Institute
Information Technology Association of America
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
MentorNet
National Academies
National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering
National Association of Manufacturers
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
National Society of Black Engineers
National Society of Black Physicists
National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorites in Science and Engineering
Partnership for Public Service
Project Kaleidoscope
RAND
Sigma Xi
Society for Advancement of Chicanos & Native American Students
Women in Engineering Programs & Advocates Network