The next generation: Education and broadening participation in science and engineering

Abstract

Attention to the worldwide issues of education and equity would be beneficial for creating the next generation of scientists and engineers. Developing countries, such as Tanzania, have different needs from industrialized countries, such as the USA, however there is considerable overlap as well. A recent National Academy report entitled Rising Above the Gathering Storm makes four recommendations for enhancing the science and education enterprise for the USA. The first of these recommendations to “Increase America’s talent pool by vastly improving K-12 science and mathematics education” could be applicable to many countries including third-world countries. In general, the issue in the USA circles around how well and how many of American children are receiving quality education educated. In terms of teacher education, incentives are needed to ensure that there are a sufficient number of teachers appropriately trained in their disciplines and in teaching. UTeach, a program at the University of Texas at Austin, is a model program for teacher preparation. The second part of the problem stems from the fact that America is not educating all of its most talented individuals, and the supply of scientists and engineers in the USA is at risk over the long-term due to changing demographics. This report has brought to the forefront the need to educate a broad cross-section of citizens. Women, African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, Native Alaskans and Pacific Islanders, and persons with disabilities are under-represented in most science and engineering fields. The USA’s National Science Foundation (NSF) has a leadership role in addressing these concerns at many levels.

Appendix

1.1 Comparison of the USA and Tanzania in terms of Gender Equity

Three basic concepts underlie the Gender Gap Index 2006.1 “First, it focuses on measuring gaps rather than levels” [1]. Second, it captures gaps in outcomes rather than gaps in means or inputs. Third, it ranks countries according to gender equality, not women’s empowerment. The USA falls behind many European nations in addition to lagging behind Canada. Twenty-three sub-Saharan African countries were included in this study; they exhibit a range of performances. Tanzania is slightly behind the regional leader, South Africa. Whereas, Mauritania, Benin and Chad are all near the bottom of the rankings.

The ranking for each country included in this study were determined using four categories. For the economic participation and opportunity category, three concepts were captured: the participation gap, the remuneration gap and the advancement gap. Tanzania has the narrowest economic gap between women and men, and thus holds the top spot among the 115 countries on this category. The USA also does well here with third spot.

In the educational attainment category, the gap between women and men’s current access to education is captured through ratios of women to men in primary-, secondary- and tertiary-level education. “A longer-term view of the country’s ability to educate women and men in equal numbers is captured through the ratio of the female literacy rate to the male literacy rate” [11]. The USA has a slightly lower rate of enrollment at the primary school level for girls than for boys, which causes a dramatic drop in its score on this category (rank of 66). Tanzania on the other hand, has equity at the primary school level, but falls short on the other parameters, putting it near the bottom at 97th.

In the category, health and survival, two factors are taken into account. One, the gap between women’s and men’s healthy life expectancy, which provides an estimate of the number of years that women and men can expect to live in good health by taking into account the years lost to violence, disease, malnutrition or other relevant factors. The second factor is the sex ratio at birth specifically to capture the phenomenon of “missing women” prevalent in many countries with strong son preference. The USA shares the number 1 spot in this category with 33 other countries. In Tanzania, the life expectancy for women is below the norm, putting it 95th.

Political empowerment mainly measures of the gap between men and women in political decision-making at the highest levels. This concept is captured through the ratio of women to men in minister-level positions and the ratio of women to men in parliamentary positions. In addition, the ratio of women to men in terms of years in executive office (prime minister or president) in the last 50 years was included. The USA has average scores on political empowerment, ranking 66th in this category, since it has only 15% women in parliamentary positions, 14% in minister-level positions and no history of female leadership in the executive office. Tanzania is similar, but with 30% women in parliamentary positions and so it ranks much higher at 26th. “The rate of increase of the numbers of women in parliament has been faster in sub-Saharan Africa in the last 40 years than in any other region of the world” [1].