The U.S. Scientific and Technical Workforce: Improving Data for Decisionmaking

Abstract

The U.S. scientific, technical, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce makes key contributions to the nation's economic growth, national security, and other national goals. Given the importance of this workforce, monitoring and understanding its health and vitality are in the national interest. In 2003, a RAND Corporation study examined the issue of potential labor shortages in this workforce, which has been a recurring concern in federal policy circles since the 1950s. The study posed two questions: Are the current data on this workforce adequate to support relevant decisionmaking and, if not, what improvements are necessary? To address this issue, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation asked RAND to convene a technical conference to discuss the current state of data gathering on the U.S. STEM workforce and how data for decisionmaking might be improved. The conference included participants from federal research and development (R&D) and statistical agencies and researchers from universities and foundations. This volume provides each paper delivered at the conference, as well as three sections that RAND analysts prepared: an introduction, a rapporteur's summary, and list of priority data needs. The RAND materials have been peer-reviewed and edited. The conference papers, however, have not been peer reviewed and have been edited only for formatting and stylistic consistency.

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