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Oblinger joins
new national
coalition to attract STEM students
Chancellor James L. Oblinger is one of 11 university and business leaders who have joined with the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) to form the Coalition for America’s High Tech Future. The coalition will undertake a series of initiatives aimed at doubling the number of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates over the next 10 years.
National Bureau of Economic Research statistics show that as late as 1975, the United States had more engineering and scientific Ph.D. graduates than Europe, and more than three times as many as all of Asia. The U.S. share of world bachelor’s engineering degrees granted – the key degree in engineering – dropped in half in the 1990s (from 12 percent in 1991 to 6 percent in 2000). By 2001, the European Union granted 40 percent more science and engineering doctorates than the United States.
“As North Carolina’s flagship university for science and technology, and one of the nation’s leading universities, NC State is well positioned to take a leadership role in the effort to attract and graduate more students in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields,” Oblinger said. “The history and tradition of our university includes an ability to listen and respond to the needs of the people of North Carolina and the nation – including contributions to economic development and workforce capacity. This partnership between universities and business will produce solutions to the troubling trend of STEM graduates.”
Oblinger pointed to a $3.3 million grant received in March from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) program as evidence of NC State’s expertise and commitment to attracting more STEM students. The grant will fund efforts to increase the number of minority students entering the professoriate in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
NC State is ranked in the top 20 institutions nationally in granting bachelor’s degrees to underrepresented minority students in STEM disciplines, and third in the number of African-American Ph.D.s in engineering. NC State ranks second in the nation in the number of bachelor of science degrees awarded among all engineering colleges.
“To compete for the jobs and opportunities of the future, we must attract more students to these critical fields,” Oblinger said. “NC State is placing special emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math education at the K-12 level, using our research to help train and retrain new teachers and to support teachers in the classroom.”
Posted Oct. 6, 2005
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