Abstract

The changing composition of the technical workforce is one of the most dramatic transformations to occur in a sea of change in technical work. In just a few decades, new hires in research and development laboratories have gone from being almost exclusively native-born white males to--in many settings--being predominantly foreign born, or U.S. born minorities and/or women. For example, in 1988, foreign students accounted for more than 28 percent of doctorates in natural science and engineering fields, up from 22 percent in 1982 (National Science Foundation, 1990a and 1987). In engineering alone, foreign students earned more than half of the doctorates by the mid-1980s. - Most agree that the increase in the proportion of foreign students in natural science and engineering education has been an important resource for U.S. industry. After a substantial increase in the production of scientists and engineers during the 1960s, the proportion of U.S. born students going into such fields declined through the 1970s. The return to previous levels of production during the 198Os was almost entirely accounted for by the influx of foreign students (National Science Foundation, 1990a). In other words, U.S. born -students have not returned to previous levels of interest in science and engineering. Thus, without foreign students being trained in these fields, there would be a serious labor shortage in industrial R&D. The increases in the proportion of U.S. born women and/or minorities have not been nearly as dramatic, but have, nevertheless, increased at a faster rate than the additions of native-born white males (National Science Foundation, 1990b).


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