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Study Warns of Lack of Scientists as Visa Applications Drop
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 10:44:52 -0500
Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2003 10:31:12 -0500 (EST) From: dave () farber net Study Warns of Lack of Scientists as Visa Applications Drop November 20, 2003 By JAMES GLANZ The dependence on foreign-born scientists and engineers in the United States soared in the 1990's, raising questions about how the nation will sustain its technology-driven economy as competition for brainpower increases worldwide, the National Science Board said on Wednesday. The board, a federal advisory body established by Congress, said it also found a large drop in the number of successful visa applications from foreign scientists, suggesting that the United States no longer dominates the global marketplace for technical talent as it once did. "As the jobs grew in the United States, we relied more heavily on students from abroad," said Dr. Joseph A. Miller Jr., senior vice president and chief technology officer at Corning and the chairman of the task force that produced the board's report on the findings. "All of this causes great concern, for us, for the future of our science and engineering work force." From 1990 to 2000, the board reported, the percentage of foreign-born workers in science and engineering with doctoral degrees in the United States leaped to 38 percent from 24 percent. Compiled by the National Science Foundation, which the board oversees, the statistics are not yet available beyond 2000. But by analyzing figures provided by the Office of Immigration Statistics, the board found that from 2001 to 2002, the number of temporary worker visas issued for jobs in science and technology plummeted by 55 percent, to 74,000 from 166,000. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, successful visa applications in all categories have fallen, said Stuart Patt, a spokesman for the consular affairs bureau of the State Department, to 6.5 million in the 2003 fiscal year from 10 million in the 2001 fiscal year. Heightened security fears and marketing efforts by other countries for international tourist dollars may have contributed to the overall drop, Mr. Patt said. Many American scientists have complained that it has been more difficult for their foreign colleagues to come to the United States since Sept. 11. Mr. Patt confirmed that the State Department had placed foreign scientists and engineers under greater scrutiny. "We take a closer look at the technology-transfer issues involved in those applications - the exchange of not only goods and services but also knowledge," Mr. Patt said. "That is one factor that affects the science and engineering applicants a little differently than others." Mr. Patt said the falloff in worker visas over all had occurred because there were fewer applicants, not because substantially greater numbers have been rejected. Whatever the reason, said Dr. Diana S. Natalicio, president of the University of Texas at El Paso and vice chairwoman of the science board, the numbers show that the nation could soon face a shortage of talent in critical areas of science and technology. The United States, Dr. Natalicio said, is not educating enough of its own students in those areas to satisfy the technology-hungry marketplace. "If these trend lines continue, we're going to have an undersupply," Dr. Natalicio said. In part because of the international impact of Sept. 11, "the flexibility in the system has been greatly reduced." Particularly worrisome is the low interest in scientific careers among one of the fastest-growing demographic sectors of the population, Hispanic Americans, Dr. Natalicio said. While American whites produce an average of 6.3 bachelor's degrees in science and engineering per 100 people 18 to 24, Hispanics produce 2.4, the report found. Another fast-growing, but much smaller group, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, is much more prolific in the sciences, producing 14.7 degrees per 100 people in the same age group. The board recommended taking a variety of steps to reverse these trends, including improvements in equipment, teacher training and financing in science programs from kindergarten through undergraduate levels. "I think we can turn the situation around fairly quickly if we deal with some of the problems" that push students away from scientific careers, said Dr. George M. Langford, a board member who is a professor in the department of biological science at Dartmouth College. Dr. Steven E. Koonin, a professor of theoretical physics who is provost of the California Institute of Technology, and who was not involved in the study, said that the combination of increasing worldwide competition for technical talent and the unpopularity of careers in science in the United States went a long way toward explaining the results. Many other countries, Dr. Koonin said, "realize that science is the way you move society forward," and have labored to become "more attractive venues in which to do scientific and technical work." Another factor, he said, is that science tends to be "populated by the children of immigrants and the lower economic classes, because it is still a meritocracy and you can succeed on your brains and hard work." With increasing prosperity in America, he said, "the children of the higher socioeconomic strata are pursuing other careers, where you don't have to work as hard." http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/20/national/20SCIE.html?ex=1070342272&ei=1&en=8f0e9ae1aa7aed91 --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.html HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales () nytimes com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help () nytimes com.Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company
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