Can Iowa Compete in A Science-based Economy?

This is a topic that I definitely have more to speak about, but this will be fairly short today.  Fred Dorr, a former West Des Moines School Board Member penned an editorial promoting science, math and technical education in Iowa.
American research-and-development dollars are being invested abroad, where scientists can be selected from a huge number of bright, ambitious and Internet-connected people in what dismissively has been referred to as Third-World countries. And they bring a strong work ethic and willingness to work for less.

We'd better come up with a response. If we don't, we'll look around and ask ourselves: What's left for us to do?

We need a plan to identify scientific issues to address in Iowa. They might include alternative energy sources, livestock and farming odor mitigation, water purity, chemical runoff and crop bioscience/genetic concerns. And then we must develop a private industry and government response. Potential steps:

• Fund a second phase of "Vision Iowa" to encourage the development of intellectual resources in our state.

• Involve Iowa businesses. Why should VeriSign go to Bangalore instead of Boone, Cedar Rapids or Orange City?

• Re-examine our curricular requirements. Are we world-class? Not in math and science.

• Create a governor's task force to visit our competitors' home countries. See what they do that we could do better. Have it develop a statewide initiative with recommended action items.

I will simply state that I agree wholeheartedly with the need to promote science, math, computer and technology (CMST) education.  Our state is in a far better position than most to produce young scientists, engineers and mathematicians.  We have a solid school system (relatively) and two higher education institutions that have solid history in innovation.

Encouraging better education in technical (and other) areas is literally a "no lose" proposition.

However, not all can be solved by education alone. 

The Computational Research Policy Blog noted an article reporting the declining number of majors enrolling in a computer-related field.  A reason was given by an educational awareness organization:
Andrew Bernat, executive director of the CRA, a computing education awareness organization, says computer science enrollment peaks when the market is excited about a new development in technology. He says that happened with personal computers during the 1980s and during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s.

When there is relatively little buzz surrounding computer technology, he says, enrollment lags.

That's the case now, but the current enrollment decline is reaching historically low numbers. "In between (enrollment peaks and valleys), you still need good, talented people all the time," Bernat says. "There is a lot to be done in computing."

Here's the problem with that line of thought, however; in the 1990s, students viewed computer and technology fields as having a bright and prosperous future in the United States.  The sheer number of start-up companies and exciting ventures was something that an eighteen-year-old student would want to be a part of.  A similar effect happened in the 1960s when federal research dollars poured into basic space and science programs; most senior college professors and engineers pursued their degrees during the height of excitement generated by the Apollo program.

In the 1990s, it was also easy to make a decent salary as a fresh college graduate - programmers and technicians were in high demand in the domestic market.  However, that is no longer the case.  For example:  a large employer of new college graduates - Accenture - announced today that they will be hiring 30,000 new employees in three Asian nations, where labor costs are considerably cheaper.

What does that mean?

It means that if Accenture needs 30,000 employees that they will invest their effort into 'new employees' not in the colleges of the midwest - but into Asian markets for cheaper labor.

They're also brutally honest about their reasons:
"If we get into a situation, for example, in India where a specific city has reached saturation from a salary standpoint and from a cost structure standpoint, we have the flexibility to move and to grow a different location--not only within India or China or the Philippines but also outside, say in eastern Europe or Latin America," he said. "And we have actually started that process as well."

We can invest like crazy in our educational infrastructure - but what good will it do if our corporate citizens still view American employees as "too expensive"?

The solutions to this issue need to involve the private sector as well as the public - otherwise the exodus of technological fields will continue on the same pace that American manufacturing vanished in the 80s and 90s.