Making Science Make Sense

Bayer Facts Of Science Eduction Survey XIII

Fortune 1000 STEM Executives on STEM Education, STEM Diversity and U.S. Competitiveness

This also is the third recent Bayer Facts survey to explore the dual issues of diversity and underrepresentation of women and minorities, including African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanic Americans, in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields and the impact of diversity/underrepresentation on U.S. competitiveness, as well as the competitiveness of STEM industries and individual companies.

Innovation, invention and discovery are engines that drive U.S. competitiveness, quality of life and national security. These engines, in turn, are driven by the scientific and technological advances made possible by the nation’s STEM workforce.

Today, the quantity and quality of that workforce, according to many indications, is at risk. Many policy experts and business leaders find this troubling, particularly now at a time when other countries are making significant investment increases in their own STEM infrastructures, including STEM education.

In response to growing unease about America’s ability to compete with India and China, Congress recently passed, and the President signed into law, the America COMPETES Act,1 which is designed to deepen the future STEM occupational talent pool.

Women and underrepresented minorities are a significant portion of this talent pool. Together, they comprise roughly two-thirds of today’s workforce. And, according to U.S. Census data, that share will continue to rise in the coming decades due to shifting demographics and growing populations.2

Yet, despite their sheer numbers and the increase in the number of STEM degrees awarded to them over the last 40 years, women, African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanic Americans have yet to achieve parity in the STEM workforce.

Data published by the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology show that women comprise only 25 percent of the STEM workforce and minorities much less than that, a fact underscored by the National Action Committee for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) in its recent report, “Confronting the ‘New’ American Dilemma: Under-Represented Minorities in Engineering: A Data-Based Look at Diversity.”

In this report, NACME looked solely at engineering trends among African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanic Americans and found that out of the more than 68,000 bachelor’s degrees in engineering awarded to students in the U.S. in 2006, less than 8,500 were awarded to underrepresented minorities. Excluding Puerto Rico, these underrepresented students earned just 11 percent of undergraduate degrees in engineering.

This at a time when both India and China are now out-producing the United States in the production of engineers graduating with bachelor’s and master’s degrees.3

Taken together, these trends demonstrate a real and urgent need to more successfully harness the talent of women and minorities and bring them to the national STEM table.

This year’s Bayer Facts survey looks at the issue of diversity/underrepresentation from the point of view of one of the country’s most important and influential cohorts – Chief Executive Officers and other C-suite executives running the United States’ largest Fortune 1000 STEM companies. These executives are responsible for a significant portion of the country’s GNP, employ the lion’s share of STEM talent in the United States, and oversee the research and development of America’s advanced products, processes and technologies marketed globally throughout the world.

To remain competitive, they must have access to a vibrant pool of STEM workers who are well-trained, highly-skilled and available in requisite numbers – in other words, all of the country’s STEM talent.

How do the executives rate the U.S. public education system when it comes to preparing today’s students, particularly girls and minorities, for STEM careers? Is a diverse workforce important to their company’s success? How is it beneficial? Does underrepresentation exist within their companies and industries? If so, is it a manpower issue? Do they believe Corporate America has a role to play to ensure these girls and minority students are prepared to become the next generation of inventors and innovators? If so, do their companies have programs in place at the pre-college level designed to foster a robust, diverse STEM pipeline?

These are just some of the questions this survey asks and answers.

In 2006, Bayer commissioned a similar survey, polling CEOs of America’s emerging STEM companies about many of the same issues addressed here. Where appropriate, comparison data between these two distinct executive audiences are included.

For copies of previous Bayer Facts of Science Education surveys, please visit www.BayerUS.com/msms.

While Fortune defines its companies in terms of industry (pharmaceutical, telecommunications, etc.), it does not characterize them necessarily as STEM companies. In order to create such a list, Fortune 1000 companies with high R&D employment and expenditure were identified by matching companies on the 2007 Fortune list with a list of the 1,000 top non-European Union R&D intensive companies prepared by the European Commission. Companies appearing on both lists were included in the sample. The sample was then expanded to include other Fortune 1000 companies in each industry category in which at least half of the companies were listed in the EU listing. This was done in order to establish high R&D industry categories within the Fortune 1000 list, and thus define them as STEM companies. The two data sources used for the selection were:

• Fortune Datastore 2007 Fortune 1000 database; Fortune Datastore, NY, NY 2007.
• 2007 EU R&D Investment Scoreboard; Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, October 2007.

Prior to being called, CEOs received a personalized letter from Bayer Corporation President and CEO Dr. Attila Molnar. The letter explained the background and objectives of the research and was instrumental in increasing cooperation among the busy executives.

Once the Fortune 1000 list was filtered to select STEM companies, the number of companies eligible to participate was much reduced (n = 311). To enhance the sample volume the survey invitation letter was copied to up to nine additional C-level executives within each company. In order to ensure ICR reached the goal of speaking with 100 C-level executives, more than one executive from a company was allowed to participate in the survey. In total, 75 interviews were completed with a single executive from a company and 25 (12 companies - 2 executives/1 company - 3 executives) interviews were completed with multiple executives from a single company.