Re: further debunking the global competition myth

["James Horn" <jhorn@monmouth.edu>]

Nice find, Peter--look for Bush to ignore this in his State of the Union
Lie, where he is likely to tout the scare document originally known as
"The Gathering Storm"--now referred to as the Augustine Report.


> According to this December 2005 report from Duke University's School of
> Engineering, almost one-third of the world's science and engineering
> graduates are employed in the United States, 35 percent of science and
> engineering articles are published in this country, and the United
> States also accounts for 40 percent of the world's research and
> development expenditure.
>
>  From the abstract:
>
> "The effect of the dynamics of engineering  outsourcing on the global
> economy is a  discussion of keen interest in both business and  public
> circles.  Varying, inconsistent reporting of  problematic engineering
> graduation data has  been used to fuel fears that America is losing its
>   technological edge.  Typical articles have stated  that in 2004 the
> United States graduated roughly  70,000 undergraduate engineers, while
> China  graduated 600,000 and India 350,000.  Our study  has determined
> that these are inappropriate  comparisons.  These massive numbers of
> Indian  and Chinese engineering graduates include not  only four-year
> degrees, but also three-year  training programs and diploma holders.
> These  numbers have been compared against the annual  production of
> accredited four-year engineering  degrees in the United States.  In
> addition to the  lack of nuanced analysis around the type of  graduates
> (transactional or dynamic) and quality  of degrees being awarded, these
> articles also  tend not to ground the numbers in the larger
> demographics of each country. A comparison of  like-to-like data
> suggests that the U.S. produces  a highly significant number of
> engineers,  computer scientists and information technology
> specialists, and remains competitive in global  markets."
>
> http://memp.pratt.duke.edu/downloads/duke_outsourcing_2005.pdf


-- 
Jim Horn, PhD
Monmouth University

As long as learning is connected with earning, as long as certain jobs can
only be reached through exams, so long must we take the examination system
seriously.  If another ladder to employment were contrived, much so-called
education would disappear, and no one would be a penny the stupider.  --E.
M. Forster