Education in States and Nations: 1991

(ESN) Indicator 29: New scientists and engineers

The "production" of new scientists and engineers in a state or nation is measured here by the ratio of university science and engineering graduates (as measured by the number of bachelor's degrees in the United States and equivalent first university degrees in other countries) to the number of 22- year-olds (a typical age for university graduation) in that state or nation. This graduation ratio is influenced both by the relative emphasis on science and engineering among all possible degrees and by the absolute number of university degrees conferred in a nation or state. It also reflects both the level of technical skill of society and the magnitude of technical resources it has available, and the labor market opportunities available for graduates.

• The number of U.S. university students who graduated with science or engineering degrees amounted to about 5 per 100 22-year-olds in 1991. Among the G-7 countries in various years between 1988 and 1991, Japan produced a higher ratio of science and engineering graduates, while Canada's and Germany's were about the same as that of the United States.

• Among 31 countries surveyed, 19 reported 4 or fewer degrees in science or engineering per 100 persons age 22. Only 8 U.S. states reported ratios that low.

• Among the G-7 countries, only Canada had as low a percentage of science and engineering degrees of all first university degrees as the United States. Seventeen percent of all U.S. bachelor's degrees in 1991 were in science and engineering fields compared to 47 percent for Germany and 40 percent for France.

• Among the 30 other countries represented here, 21 of them showed larger percentages of first university degrees in science and engineering than did Montana, the state with the largest proportion.

Notes on interpretation:

The natural sciences include agricultural, biological, physical, environmental, mathematical, and computer sciences. Health and social sciences are excluded.

Countries vary in the manner in which they classify higher-level training programs as either university or non-university higher education programs. Equivalent programs at equivalent "polytechnics," technical, or vocational colleges may be classified as university programs in one country, in which case they would be represented in this indicator, but as non-university higher education programs in another country, in which case they would not be represented here.

Graduation ratios should not be interpreted as graduation rates. Graduation ratios allow comparisons across states and nations by standardizing the number of graduates at a particular education level to the size of the population in an age group typical for graduation at that level. It is not, however, an estimate of the percentage of that age group who graduate at that level. See supplemental note for a discussion of graduation reference ages. See Indicator 24 for a listing of the names of first university degrees (the equivalents to the U.S. bachelor's) for each of the OECD countries.

All students completing bachelor's degrees (or the equivalent) in country or state universities are included in the higher education completion figures. That includes students who had lived in other countries or states before attending their university or who moved to other countries or states after attending their university. Some states and countries, particularly those with a relatively large public university system and many private universities, may have a surplus of "in-migrant" students. Other states and countries, particularly those with a relatively small public university system and few private universities, may have a deficit of "out-migrant" students. See Indicator 11 for a migration adjustment across U.S. states, made at the initial point of that migration - when students first enter higher education institutions.

Table 28b

Figure 29a