Study: No Shortage of U.S. Engineers

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Proposed H-1B Visa Exemptions

Gates argued that there is a decline in student interest in the sciences and that changes in immigration policy should be made to help fill gaps in the labor market. At the hearing, Gates advocated for a variety of changes to U.S. immigration policy, including extending the period foreign students can work in the U.S. after graduation, increasing the current cap on H-1B visas [for skilled workers], and significantly increasing the number of green cards issued annually. Tech companies such as Google (GOOG) and Oracle (ORCL) also advocate these policies as part of Compete America, the tech industry lobbying group.

While it's likely that immigration reform legislation will wait until after the health-care debate is completed, a number of bills are circulating in Congress to address employer concerns. Representatives Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) have this month been urging colleagues to co-sponsor H.R. 1791, the so-called "STAPLE" Act of 2009. It would exempt foreign-born individuals who have earned an American PhD in STEM fields from annual limits on the number of employer-based green cards and H-1B visas awarded.

In a letter to the House of Representatives on Oct. 27, Flake and Quigley wrote that the STAPLE Act "is the simplest, most commonsense step Congress can take to create jobs and ensure both American competitiveness in the global marketplace and increase the likelihood that future Nobel laureates will do their work inside the U.S."

Computer Science Courses Dwindle

Tech companies aren't the only ones claiming the U.S. faces problems producing adequate numbers of students and job seekers interested in STEM. Industry associations in such fields as computer science say they also detect diminishing opportunities to pursue careers in this area. "The trends in computer science aren't consistent with the broader trends [identified] in this data," says Chris Stephenson, executive director of the Computer Science Teachers Assn., a New York-based professional organization of 7,400 high school-level teachers. "It's safe to say that computer science is an outlier. We have severe problems in our pipeline at every step of the process."

Stephenson says the number of computer science courses taught at the high school level has dropped for the past six years, especially at advanced levels. In 2005, 40% of U.S. high schools offered Advanced Placement courses in computer science; that number sank to 32% in 2007 and to 27% in 2009. "It's clear that the number of students taking computer science is dropping," she says.

Heads of other professional organizations also criticized the study for its lack of specificity among industries. The argument is that some STEM students and graduates may be worth cultivating more than others. The report's authors said it would have been too difficult and costly to perform a longitudinal data analysis by individual industry.

"There's a problem when you paint with a large brush and put all STEM fields together," says Gordon Day, president of IEEE-USA, a professional group of engineers. "We want to encourage the best and the brightest, smart and trained, entrepreneurial and energetic individuals to create jobs [in the U.S.]. Engineers create jobs. Scientists like marine biologists, particle physicists, and astronomers [typically] don't."

Herbst is a reporter for BusinessWeek.