Last month, I found myself in several state-of-the-nation discussions with friends in Bombay. One of them, the founder of a technology start-up in India, remarked that from his experience and interactions with both Indians and Americans, he found the average Indian's analytical skills and understanding relatively superior. My friend's belief in the "superior" technical understanding of the Indians speaks to the larger concern in the U.S. regarding erosion of skills and knowledge, particularly in science and technology education. However, it's also anecdotal. So, I tried to unearth some statistics in support.
A figure oft quoted in the media to emphasize the decline of science and technology in the U.S. is one published in a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine eight months ago. The report argued that China and India combined graduate 950,000 engineers every year, compared with 70,000 in America. However, a team of researchers from Duke University was quick to point out the flaws in these figures and the problem in using them as shorthand for the vulnerability of the U.S. They found that U.S. engineering schools graduate 137,000 four-year degree-holding engineers, India graduates 100,000 engineers a year and 351,000 engineering students graduate every year in China (The National Academies have subsequently revised their report to reflect these figures). The Duke study also found that while India's and China's best is as good as our best, "the average engineer from the U.S.A. is far better than the average engineer from India and China."
However, let's not take the Duke team's word for it. Although evaluated various albeit subjective parameters to present a representative picture, I think facts on the U.S. as a whole might be more illustrative. Consider these facts from a recent Newsweek article:
- In 1980, the United States made up 22 percent of world output; today that has risen to 29 percent.
- The World Economic Forum ranks the U.S. as the second most competitive economy in the world. The U.S. is first in technology and innovation, first in technological readiness, first in company spending for research and technology, and first in the quality of its research institutions. China does not come within 30 countries of the U.S. on any of these points, and India makes it to the top 10 on only one count: the availability of scientists and engineers.
- U.S. firms lead the world in productivity and profits in virtually every sector that advanced industrial countries participate in.
The situation with regard to higher education is even more dramatic. A new report, "The Future of European Universities," from the London-based Center for European Reform, points out that of the world's 20 top universities, 18 are American. The U.S. invests 2.6 percent of its GDP on higher education. Compare that to 1.2 percent in Europe and 1.1 percent in Japan.
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