A solid foundation needed for tech talent

It is no secret that higher education faces a crisis recruiting and retaining technology and engineering students. The media has reported that 40 percent of freshmen starting on the road to technology-related degrees end up pursuing other fields.

By Edward Alton Parrish The Boston Globe

Such sobering statistics may have profound consequences for the US economy, as sectors ranging from high-tech to biotechnology to the aerospace industry compete for an ever-dwindling pool of skilled graduates. Some have suggested the problem is that we have not motivated those students to stay with their science and engineering studies. But the solution to the steady decline of these students is not simply a matter of motivation or making academics more exciting. The solution lies in changing how we prepare students by building the proper foundations in math and science from kindergarten through grade 12. Without this foundation, it’s no wonder so many freshman quickly become frustrated with science and engineering studies, fall behind, transfer to another major, or ultimately fail to meet an institution’s academic standards.

The sad truth is that the priorities given to math, science, and technology in our public schools are sporadic at best. Many high schools require four years of English and social studies but relegate science and math to a two- to three-year requirement. Unless pushed by a family member or teacher, few students take advanced or elective math and science courses. This must change if we are to achieve any real success in retaining students in engineering or technology programs and reducing the number of college freshmen who need remedial work in math and science.

Students who avoid math and science studies during their high school years don’t realize they are closing doors that can lead to bright opportunities in an economy in which science and technology is playing an increasingly important role. We have a responsibility to keep these doors open for them — even if they choose not to walk through them.

How do we live up to that responsibility and prepare students to take advantage of some of the highest paying and most rewarding fields? Here are a few ideas:

* Nurture technology studies, particularly at the elementary level, to show children early on how math, science, and technology will play an essential part in their lives. Hands-on learning approaches and real-world demonstrations of the impact math, science, and engineering have on people’s lives and the ways engineers use math and science to solve societal problems should be stressed. For example, by involving students in how the principles of ecology are used to restore wetlands, which in turn directly affects the environment they live in, students see science theory in a new light.

* Deepen exposure to math, science, and engineering by expanding core high school graduation requirements, bringing math and science into the curriculum earlier and broadening the range of electives. Currently, this is done on a district-by-district basis, with some school districts having exemplary reputations and others able to provide only the bare minimum. We should also foster programs such as math clubs, science fairs, and other extracurricular activities and competitions that reward academic achievement the same way we reward athletic achievement.* Place the highest priority in recruiting and retaining math and science teachers. In any school district, the mentoring relationship teachers play is critical in shaping students’ futures — stellar English teachers will produce tomorrow’s journalists, and stellar math and science teachers will produce the next generation of software engineers. The best math and science graduates have little financial incentive to enter K-12 teaching, and every year more math and science teachers are lured away by higher salaries outside the teaching profession.

* Create better communication between the corporate and foundation-based programs that currently conduct math, science, and engineering outreach to K-12 students. IBM, EMC, Intel, and the GE Foundation all have solid programs to inspire K-12 math and science. But instead of disparate efforts all leading to an admirable goal, we should be coordinating our efforts and sharing best practices.

These suggestions are but a starting point, with the important mission of making science, engineering, and technology understandable, accessible, and exciting for students as early as possible. Until we address the preparation issue and build a stronger foundation for our children, society will continue to struggle to recruit and retain the next generation of technical talent, and higher education will struggle to prepare them.

Edward Alton Parrish is president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.