A Tale of Tow Crises

I think it is interesting to compare the two position papers below, both with the word "crisis" in the title. The first paper titled, "The Postdoc Crisis" provides an excellent summary of the S&E workforce challenges facing postdocs. In summary: 'not enough staff jobs to go around, but low-wage postdoc numbers keep increasing in step with funding increases'. There are several interesting graphs in the paper.

In contrast, the paper by an non-profit called BEST-Building Engineering and Scientific Talent claim we are facing an impending (or current) "crisis" of a shortage of scientists and engineers: "The crisis stems from the gap between the nation’s growing need for scientists, engineers, and other technically skilled workers, and its production of them."-BEST

Unfortunately, BEST does not provide data of an actual S&E shortage, it just discusses a hypothetical crisis using age old argument: foreign countries train more S&Es than we do and looming mass retirements. BEST also provides "data" from the Bureau of Labor Statistics [www.bls.gov], where a handful of statisticians claim to be able to accurately predict the job market ten years into the future despite the inability of the BLS to accurately provide the actual job creation numbers for LAST month [Feb 07], let alone in Feb 2017.

Unfortunately, BEST was commissioned by and testified before Congress, the authors of the "Postdoc Crisis" paper have yet to be invited to do so.

Bob

1.

The Postdoc Crisis

http://cip-etats-generaux.apinc.org/IMG/pdf/ThePostdocCrisis.pdf

In the last quarter century there has been an enormous growth in the number of postdocs. Like their predecessors, they remain poorly paid, but now the average scientist will spend more time as a postdoc,

will have a harder time securing a faculty position and will likely be required to do a postdoc if he or she decides to enter industry. 1

2.

The Quiet Crisis: Falling Short in Producing American Scientific and Technical Talent

http://www.bestworkforce.org/PDFdocs/Quiet_Crisis.pdf

There is a quiet crisis building in the United States — a crisis that could jeopardize the nation’s pre-eminence and well-being. The crisis has been mounting gradually, but inexorably, over several decades. If permitted to continue unmitigated, it could reverse the global leadership Americans currently enjoy. The crisis stems from the gap between the nation’s growing need for scientists, engineers, and other technically skilled workers, and its production of them. As the generation educated in the 1950s and 1960s prepares to retire, our colleges and universities are not graduating enough scientific and technical talent to step into research laboratories, software and other design centers, refineries, defense installations, science policy offices, manufacturing shop floors and high-tech startups.

This “gap” represents a shortfall in our national scientific and technical capabilities. The need to make the nation safer from emerging terrorist threats that endanger the nation’s people, infrastructure, economy, health, and environment, makes this gap all the more critical and the need for action all the more urgent.

http://www.bestworkforce.org/