Maintaining Competitiveness Requires Diverse Workforce
WHITE PLAINS, NY-America is facing a crisis in the fields of science, engineering and technology. The U.S. workforce in these fields is on the verge of retiring in record numbers, and education does not prepare enough secondary school students to fill the looming gap. The result is a severe shortage of engineering college graduates, according to speakers at a symposium hosted November 14 to 16, 2005, by the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME).
The crisis is exacerbated by the inadequate number of underrepresented minority students who are prepared to study engineering and technology at the college level, says the NACME. Ross Wiener, principal partner, The Education Trust, says, "Only 32% of American high school students will graduate from high school with the skills they need to succeed in college or work. Only one of five students of color will leave high school ready for college."