Mathematics

Business Coalition Focuses on Math, Science Careers

By Vaishali Honawar — August 09, 2005 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A business coalition has released a plan to lure more Americans into careers in mathematics, science, technology, and engineering, with the goal of doubling the number of graduates in those fields in the next decade.

The report from the coalition of 15 business groups calls the decline in the number of U.S. students pursuing higher education in those subjects “a national problem that demands national leadership.”

For example, the number of students planning to pursue engineering degrees declined by one-third between 1992 and 2002, the report states. Funding for basic research in the physical sciences as a percentage of the U.S. gross domestic product, it says, has declined by half since 1970.

John J. Castellani, the president of the Washington-based Business Roundtable, an association of chief executive officers of leading corporations which organized the effort, warned of a “critical situation” that threatens to undermine America’s world leadership position in science and technology.

“Tapping America’s Potential: The Education for Innovation Initiative,” is posted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

But, he added, the good news is that there are some “straightforward solutions,” such as those put forward in the report, that can help remedy the situation. “We cannot wait for another Sputnik to propel our energy forward in this area,” he said, referring to the galvanizing effect on the United States of the Soviet Union’s launch of the satellite in 1957.

The report, released July 27, advocates building public support to make improvements in math, science, technology, and engineering a national priority; motivating students to enter careers in those fields; upgrading elementary and secondary teaching in math and science; and reforming visa and immigration policies to enable the U.S. to attract top science, technology, engineering, and math students from around the world.

‘Urgent Need’

The 15 business groups that participated in the report, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business-Higher Education Forum, the Information Technology Association of America, and the Council on Competitiveness, said they would work to expand successful initiatives such as the State Scholars program, which encourages high school students to take more-rigorous courses, help create scholarships for young people interested in technical fields, and lobby governors and Congress to carry out the recommendations.

Gerald F. Wheeler, the executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, based in Arlington, Va., praised the report for its emphasis on making math, science, technology, and engineering attractive teaching options. The report calls for instituting performance-based salary incentives for math and science teachers, and for professional development to fill in gaps in teachers’ content knowledge.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the August 10, 2005 edition of Education Week as Business Coalition Focuses on Math, Science Careers

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Pave the Path to Excellence in Math
Empower your students' math journey with Sue O'Connell, author of “Math in Practice” and “Navigating Numeracy.”
Content provided by hand2mind
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Combatting Teacher Shortages: Strategies for Classroom Balance and Learning Success
Learn from leaders in education as they share insights and strategies to support teachers and students.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum Reading Instruction and AI: New Strategies for the Big Education Challenges of Our Time
Join the conversation as experts in the field explore these instructional pain points and offer game-changing guidance for K-12 leaders and educators.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Mathematics Do Future Teachers Have Math Anxiety? Their University Instructors Think So
Professors are split on how prepared they believe future teachers are for college-level math.
6 min read
Illustration of a woman with eyes closed and clouds around her head with a background full of trigonometric formulas in space.
iStock/Getty
Mathematics From Our Research Center Universities Are Teaching Competing Math Philosophies to Future Teachers. Why That Matters
Survey data reveal deep tensions about the value of explicit teaching, the importance of fluency, and ability grouping in math.
12 min read
Conceptual illustration of a professional woman and man holding large arrows and pointing while running in opposite directions.
iStock/Getty
Mathematics From Our Research Center Preparing Math Teachers: What's in the Coursework?
New EdWeek survey data suggest a mix of methods and the use of textbooks over empirical research.
11 min read
College professor in front of a whiteboard with math equations and pointing to student with hand raised.
iStock/Getty
Mathematics Making Sense of Fractions: This Tactic Helped Students Grasp a Key Math Topic
Fractions are an important building block in students’ mathematical foundations—and notoriously difficult to master.
3 min read
teenager child student thinks over solves example problem with fractions on blackboard in school classroom in math algebra lesson
Natalia Bodrova/iStock