US workers behind Korea, UK, Germany, 19 others in science and math

[xchrom]

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/09/10366521-us-workers-behind-korea-uk-germany-19-others-in-science-and-math

&width=600

When it comes to churning out young workers with college degrees in math and science, the United States lags well behind other advanced democracies, ranking just behind Turkey and Spain, according to a new analysis.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development analyzed education rates in its member countries and found that the U.S. is below average in the relative number of 25- to 34-year-old workers who have a degree in so-called STEM fields such as science, engineering, computing and statistics.
advertisement

That’s a potential problem because research has shown that innovation in any economy depends on how many workers have such degrees, said Ronald Ehrenberg, director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute.

“It is something that we should be concerned about,” Ehrenberg said

There are about 1,472 math and science grads for every 100,000 employed 25- to 34-year-olds in the United States, according to the data. The compares to more than 3,555 in Korea, which leads the chart, according to the OECD figures based on 2009 data.

[MisterP]

1. I'm quite intrigued by those who manage to be lower on the scale--Iceland, Norway, the Benelux