The National Science Board this week said leading science and engineering indicators
tell a mixed story regarding the achievement of the US in science,
research and development, and math in international comparisons.

For example, US schools continue to lag behind internationally
in science and math education. On the other hand, the US is the
largest, single, R&D-performing
nation in the world pumping some $340 billion into future-related
technologies. The US also leads the world in patent development.

The board’s conclusions and Science and Engineering Indicators 2008
are contained in the group’s biennial report on the state of science
and engineering research and education in the United States sent to the
President and Congress this week.

While the report is massive,
the board came up with 13 prime observations on the report or what it
calls leading Science and Engineering Indicators 2008.    

The facts: 

• U.S. grade school students continue to lag behind other
  developed countries in science and math, although fourth and eighth
  grade U.S. students showed steady gains in math since 1990. Only fourth
  graders showed gains in science compared to 1996.  

• High school completion and college enrollment rates
  across ethnic groups increased steadily in recent years. But college
  enrollment and completion rates differ across socioeconomic groups. 

• In 2000, the United States held about one quarter of the
  world’s 194 million tertiary degrees — degrees broadly equivalent to a
  U.S. baccalaureate. Twenty years earlier, the U.S. share was closer to
  one third of the world’s then 73 million tertiary degrees. 

• From 1994 to 2004, U.S. firms increased the number of
  people they employed in R&D jobs outside the United States by 76 %
  and employment within the United States by 31 %, while U.S.
  subsidiaries of foreign firms increased their U.S. R&D employment
  by 18 %. 

• ·          The U.S. is the largest, single, R&D-performing
  nation in the world supplying an estimated $340 billion for R&D in
  2006, a record high. 

• Of the $340 billion R&D total, basic research
  accounted for 18 % or $62 billion; applied research accounted for 22 %
  or $75 billion; and development accounted for the other 60 % or $203
  billion. In 2006, the federal government supplied about 60 % of all
  basic research funds, industry about 17 %, with private foundations,
  academic institutions and other governmental entities supplying the
  rest. 

• Federal obligations for all academic research, basic and
  applied, declined in real terms between 2004 and 2005 and are expected
  to drop further in 2006 and 2007. This would be the first multiyear
  decline for academic research since 1982. 

• Based on key indicators, the U.S. sustained a relative
  economic advantage over other developed and developing economies.
  Growth has been far more rapid in the emerging markets of China and
  India. 

• The U.S. is a leading producer in high-tech manufacturing
  and knowledge-intensive services, but several Asian countries, led by
  China, have rapidly increased their global market share. 

• The U.S. leads the world in economically-viable patents, filed in the U.S., Japan and Europe.  

• The U.S. comparative advantage in exports of
  high-technology products has eroded: the U.S. trade balance in advanced
  technology products shifted from surplus to deficit starting in 2002.
  Information and communications products geographically concentrated in
  Asia — particularly China and Malaysia — account for this deficit.  

• U.S. public support for government funding of scientific research is strong and growing. 

• In a 2006 survey, 87 % of Americans supported government
  funding for basic research, up from 80 % in past surveys dating back to
  1979. Also, Americans who said the government spends too little on
  scientific research grew from 34 % to 41 % between 2002 and 2006. 

• In 2006, Americans expressed greater confidence in
  leaders of the scientific community than those of any other institution
  except the military. On science-related public policy issues, including
  global climate change, stem cell research and genetically modified
  foods, Americans believe that science leaders, are knowledgeable and
  impartial and ought to be influential. 

• Academic scientists and engineers are more diverse today, and federal funding remains important to them. 

• From 1973 to 2006, in the academic, doctoral labor force
  the share of women increased from 9 % to 33 %, of underrepresented
  minorities (African-Americans, Hispanics, and American Indians/Alaska
  Natives) from 2 % to 8 %, and of Asian/Pacific Islanders from 4 % to 14
  %. 

• Academic S&E doctorate holders employed in academia
  who received federal support has remained steady during the last 20
  years: just under half, 47 % in 2006, and in the late 1980s. Among life
  scientists, this %age has dropped from 65 % in 1989, to 58 % in 2006,
  although the actual number of those reporting federal support
  increased.   

The National Science Board was established by Congress in 1950, and
provides oversight for, and establishes the policies of, the National Science Foundation.
It also serves as an independent body of advisors to both the President
and Congress on broad national policy issues related to science and
engineering research and education.

Via NetworkWorld