Making Science Make Sense

Bayer Facts of Science Education Survey

The Bayer Facts of Science Education VII

Research Methods

Introduction and Methodology

The following report is based on the findings of a survey of employees who are new to the U.S. workforce and managers who supervise such new employees. The Bayer Facts of Science Education VII survey, conducted by Market Research Institute, Inc., was commissioned by Bayer and in cooperation with the National Science Foundation.

The Bayer Facts of Science Education survey series, an ongoing annual public opinion research project, is one component of Bayer's companywide Making Science Make Sense initiative that advances science literacy across the United States through hands-on, inquiry-based science learning, employee volunteerism and public education.

This year's study examines issues including workplace skills and workforce preparedness, as well as the role played by education in workforce preparation and its effectiveness, with a special focus on science education and science literacy. By eliciting the opinions of two different groups, the study is able to look at these issues from two different perspectives.

The new employees' survey results are based on telephone interviews conducted during the period from February 21, 2001 through April 2, 2001. To qualify for the new employee survey all respondents must have, within the past year, completed their present plans for school and be employed in a permanent job. New employee respondents were contacted using random digit dialing among households with 18 to 30 year-olds. A total of 701 interviews were conducted with new employees from companies that are representative of U.S. businesses, both in size and type. The 701 completed interviews provide a confidence level of 95 percent with a margin of error of four percentage points.

In conjunction, and conducted simultaneously, the managers' survey was completed with respondents who currently manage employees, who within the past year, completed their present plans for school and were in a permanent job. A total of 400 interviews were conducted with managers from companies that are representative of U.S. businesses, both in size and type. The 400 completed interviews provide a confidence level of 95 percent with a margin of error of five percentage points.

Combined, the surveys have a confidence level of 95 percent, with a margin of error of +/- three percentage points.

Key Findings

Valuable Workplace Skills

The primary goal in this section of the survey was to contrast traditional and "new economy" views of workplace skills and to determine whether or not new employees and managers of new employees agree on which skills are most desirable in today's workplace.

A second goal was to measure, from each group's point of view, how well equipped new employees are with the preferred skills, and how effective their education was in equipping them with these skills.

New employees and managers were presented with the following five pairs of contrasting skills and asked to select which of the two skills they believe companies value more in new employees.

Skill Pair #1
Solve unforeseen problems themselves on the job
OR
Refer unforeseen problems to others

Skill Pair #2
Adapt to changes in the work environment
OR
Cope with a stable work environment

Skill Pair #3
Do their best work in team situations
OR
Do their best work independent of others

Skill Pair #4
Continue to expand their skills as the company changes and/or grows
OR
Refine and master in more depth the specifics of their present job

Skill Pair #5
Deal with unusual situations and unforeseen problems
OR
Handle routine, everyday tasks well

For four out of the five skill pairs presented, most new employees and managers agree about the skills valued more by a company in its new hires.

Agreement Between Employees and Managers on Skills More Valued

	Employees	Managers
Solve unforeseen problems themselves on the job	86%	80%
Adapt to changes in the work environment	79%	89%
Do their best work in team situations	74%	76%
Continue to expand their skills as the company changes and/or grows	78%	71%

Disagreement Between Employees and Managers on Skills More Valued

	Employees	Managers
Deal with unusual situations and unforeseen problems	63%	44%
Handle routine, everyday tasks well	37%	56%

However, despite seeing eye-to-eye on valued workplace skills, new employees and managers differ as to how well equipped with these skills new employees actually are and how effective the employees' education was in equipping them with these skills.

Employees and Managers Assessment of New Employees' Job Skills

	Employees	Managers

Solve unforeseen problems themselves on the job
Very Well Equipped/Equipped	88%	50%
Schooling Very Effective/Effective	69%	36%

Adapt to changes in the work environment
Very Well Equipped/Equipped	92%	56%
Schooling Very Effective/Effective	62%	42%

Do their best work in team situations
Very Well Equipped/Equipped	94%	60%
Schooling Very Effective/Effective	79%	49%

Continue to expand skills as the company changes or grows
Very Well Equipped/Equipped	89%	57%
Schooling Very Effective/Effective	74%	44%

Deal with unusual situations and unforeseen problems
Very Well Equipped/Equipped	88%	49%
Schooling Very Effective/Effective	62%	35%

Handle routine, everyday tasks well
Very Well Equipped/Equipped	94%	70%
Schooling Very Effective/Effective	80%	50%

New employees are most likely to call themselves "very well equipped" with these skills. Managers are most likely to call new employees only "somewhat equipped."

While new employees are very confident about possessing these skills, they are somewhat less positive about the effectiveness of their education in preparing them with these skills. Managers are even less positive about the effectiveness of education in equipping new employees with these skills.

Importance of Education in Workforce Preparedness

The impact of education - at all levels - on workplace readiness was the focus in this section. Is elementary school as valuable as high school or college or, because it is far removed from the workplace, does it have less effect on workplace preparation?

Have managers, who are the customers of education seen improvements in education and education's product -- new hires -- over the last five years? Are they faced with the need to enroll their new hires in remedial training programs? Are new hires getting the jobs they want because of their education? Looking to the future, will the new hires, who have just completed their education, need to return for further education in order to remain on the path to success?

Across the board, new employees believe that their pre-college education was important in preparing them for their job. Nearly two-thirds (63 %) of new employees say their elementary and middle school education was very important or important, and the number rises to a full three-fourths (76%) when asked about high school.

Nearly one-half (45%) of all managers believe that the overall contribution education has made in preparing students for their jobs has improved (greatly or somewhat) over the last five years, while somewhat more than one-third (37%) say it has stayed the same. Female managers (49%), however, are more likely to feel education has improved than are their male counterparts (40%).

Among the 15 percent who are negative about improvements in education, managers who work in science, technology or medical fields are twice as likely (24%) to say that the overall contribution education has made in preparing students for their jobs has diminished than are managers who do not work in science, technology or medical fields (12%).

Although managers' views on education's overall contribution varies (45% improved; 37% stayed the same; 15% diminished), the large majority (79%) of them state that students' overall education has prepared them for future workplace success, including promotions and raises.

Regardless of their age, sex, type or size of company they work for, the large majority (82%) of new employees are positive about their education, its impact on their job search and the opportunities it provided them to get the job they wanted. A similar majority (84%) of new employees also feel that their education prepared them well to be successful in their present and future jobs, including promotions and raises.

Little emphasis is put on enrolling these new employees in remedial courses, regardless of their education. Whether a college graduate or someone with less than a high school education, more than three-fourths of all managers say they have not enrolled new employees in remedial courses in the last year. New employees report much the same - only 10% of those interviewed indicate that their manager has enrolled them in remedial courses. According to the new employees surveyed, most (78%) of the courses they are asked to take are job specific instead.

However, even though many are not taking remedial classes, one-fourth (26%) of new employees believe remedial courses would be beneficial to them and their job success. Among younger respondents (18-23) who tended to have completed less education, the number who believe this rises to 40%.

For those few new employees who have taken or are enrolled in remedial courses, 79% identify taking courses aimed at improving math skills and 69% identify taking courses aimed at improving communication skills. For those few managers who report enrolling their new employees in remedial courses, improving communication skills (72%) is the type of course most often mentioned.

Despite recently completing their education and taking a permanent full-time job, nearly three-fourths (70%) of new employees agree with the following statement, "In order for me to be successful in my present and in future jobs, including obtaining promotions and raises, I will need to continue my education either by taking college courses and/or obtaining a higher degree."

Managers agree on the need for continuing education for some, but not all of their new employees. When managers were asked how many of their new employees will need to continue their education, either by taking college courses and/or obtaining a higher degree, in order to attain future job success, including promotions and raises, more than half (58 percent) say some or less, while slightly less than half (42 %) say almost all or many. Managers who work at larger companies (50%) are more likely to believe this than are those who work at smaller ones (34%).

Effectiveness of U.S. Education in Workforce Preparedness

In this section, new employees and managers were asked to turn the tables on school and assign grades to education. How well does U.S. education prepare students for the workplace? Are specific subjects more important to workplace preparation than others? If so, how well did these subjects prepare the survey respondents for their jobs?

How well does our education system prepare students for the workplace? The following report card shows the average grade assigned to elementary, middle and high school education by both new employees and managers. (NOTE: A = Excellent, B = Good, C = Fair, D = Poor, F = Very Poor)

	New Employees	Managers
Elementary School	B	C
Middle School	B	C
High School	B	C

Regardless of education level, managers are less confident than are new employees about the quality of education in preparing students to enter the workplace. Managers who work in science, technology or medical fields also tend to assign lower grades than do managers who do not work in these fields.

All new employees were asked to rank five subject areas - Science, Math, English/Reading/Writing, Social Studies/History and Vocational - from best to least according to which best prepared them for today's workplace. At each grade level - elementary, middle and high school - they rate English/reading/writing, math, science, social studies/history and vocational classes in that order as the subjects that best prepared them for the workplace.

All managers were asked to rate how prepared their new employees are for their jobs in these five subjects -- Science, Math, English/Reading/Writing, Social Studies/History and Vocational. The following table shows managers' average grades. (NOTE: A=Very Well Prepared; B=Prepared; C=Somewhat Prepared; D=Not Very Prepared; F=Not Prepared At All)

Managers' Grade of Employees' Preparedness by Subject

Subject		Grade
Math		C
English/Reading/Writing		B
Science		C
Social Studies/History		C
Vocational		C

Science Education and Science Literacy

This section focuses more narrowly on science and math components of education, including science literacy. In the survey, science literacy is defined as having a general knowledge of science, math and technology in order to understand information, think critically, solve problems and make decisions.

Do employees and managers view science literacy as critical to workplace success?

Would the job prospects of new employees been better if they had taken more math and science classes? What priority was science given when the new hires were in elementary school and what priority should it be given in elementary school today? Is there a better way to learn science, and if so, what is it?

Managers (52%) and, to a lesser extent, new employees (42%) agree that better job opportunities would have been available to new employees if they had taken more math and science classes. This percentage goes up to 60% for managers who work in science, technology or medical fields.

The majority (53%) of new employees say that when they were in elementary school science education was given less priority than reading, writing, and mathematics. For today's elementary school students, however, the majority of both new employees (63%) and managers (63%) believe that science education should be given the same or greater priority as reading, writing, and mathematics.

Nearly all managers (93%) and new employees (88%) alike, feel the most effective way to teach science is by conducting hands-on experiments, forming opinions, discussing and defending conclusions with others. Despite this belief, many new employees say that their science experience in elementary school (61%), middle school (59%) and high school (41%) more closely matched the traditional approach of reading textbooks, listening to lectures and memorizing scientific information.

When asked to rate the quality of their own science education, on average, new employees give their elementary school science a "B"; their middle school science a "B"; and, their high school science a "B." (These science education grades are comparable with those that new employees assign to education overall at each school level.)

The majority of new employees (74%) and managers (68%) believe science literacy is important (very important/important) for success in today's workplace. Having said that, however, when asked how important a basic level of science literacy is specifically for them (new employees) or for their new employees (managers), the numbers drop. More than half (52%) of new employees say that science literacy is important for their jobs, while slightly less than half (42%) of managers report that science literacy is important for their new hires. For managers not working in science, technology or medical fields, slightly more than one-third (35%) indicate that science literacy is not important for their workforce.

While more than half of the new employees (52%) say a basic level of science literacy is important to their jobs, fully three-quarters (77%) consider themselves science literate.

A large majority of new employees (81%) and managers (79%) believe the U.S. will continue to be recognized as a global leader in science and technology over the next 25 years. Yet, both believe (88%) that other countries will pose a significant challenge to our global leadership in science and technology in the next 25 years.

As a result of other countries having stronger science literacy skills, most managers (85%) and new employees (84%) believe that U.S. students will face increased competition for jobs from students who live in those countries. This response is similar among new employees and managers regardless of size or type of company they work for.

More than two-thirds (67%) of all managers and new employees are concerned (very concerned/concerned) that today's U.S. students may be inadequately prepared for the future workplace as a result of performing substantially below other leading countries in math and science in the Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS).

Advice to Today's Students and Tomorrow's Workforce

In this last section, the goal was to determine what advice managers and new hires have for the next generation of workers. What subjects should they take more of in school? Are there other education opportunities that managers and new employees believe are important in preparing students for the workplace?

If you could give advice to today's high school and college students, which of the following subjects would you urge them to take more of? This question was asked of both new employees and managers and both gave similar advice - more than one-half of each advise taking more of each of the subjects listed. The following table summarizes the "yes" responses.

	Employees	Managers
English/Reading/Writing	90%	96%
Math	88%	93%
Vocational	77%	81%
Science	65%	60%
Social Studies/History	60%	53%

Education takes place inside and outside the classroom, both formally and informally. Across the board, managers and new employees agree that all of the following are important additional educational experiences that will help to prepare today's students for tomorrow's workplace.

	Employees	Managers
Internships	91%	90%
Field trips	69%	70%
Visits to classrooms by working adults	86%	76%
Visits to classrooms by working adults like scientists, computer specialists and journalists	86%	76%
Mentoring relationships	87%	87%
Involvement in community service/volunteerism	77%	81%

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