Copyright All rights reserved by Dartmouth Flickr

Why are scientist abandoning their research, and if they are what does this say about the looming STEM crisis that the nation faces, at least according to the Obama Administration?

In Chronicle of Higher Education survey of American university research scientists, authors Paul Basken and Paul Voosen report that Strapped Scientists Abandon Research and Students.  Since the article is behind the subscription wall, I’ll include a few quotes.

A survey was sent to 67,454 researchers holding grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH) or the National Science Foundation (NSF).  According to the Chronicle study, 11,000 responded.  Many said they didn’t have the time to fill out the questionnaire because they were too busy writing grant proposals.

Basken and Voosen asked researchers to complete the survey to find out if the research community was downsizing their ability to do basic research and why.

Among the key findings: Nearly half have already abandoned an area of investigation they considered central to their lab’s mission. And more than three-quarters have reduced their recruitment of graduate students and research fellows because of economic pressures.  Basken, Paul, and Paul Voosen. “Strapped Scientists Abandon Research and Students.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. N.p., 24 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

For more than ten years, the budget of the NIH has been reduced, and the budget of the NSF has not done well, either.

As a result, the total amount of research dollars has shrunk, and this has created serious problems for research scientists and their students.  As Basken and Voosen report,

Depression, discouragement, and stress were common words in the comments that accompanied responses to the Chronicle survey. Researchers expressed concern both for themselves and for their counterparts, including students who they had hoped would become the nation’s next generation of scientists.

Take those who have worked under Patrick S. Moore, a professor of microbiology and medical genetics at the University of Pittsburgh. Twenty years ago, Dr. Moore and his team discovered the viral cause of Kaposi’s sarcoma, one of the most common cancers in AIDS patients. More recently, his lab found the viral cause for most Merkel-cell carcinomas, which kill several hundred Americans each year.

But now the three postdoctoral researchers who led the Merkel-cell discovery and then helped identify a promising possible cure are all unable to find permanent academic jobs, Dr. Moore said. Perhaps they’ll find work in a corporate setting, doing applied research, he said. But they “should be doing exploratory science to find the cause of the next cancer. Basken, Paul, and Paul Voosen. “Strapped Scientists Abandon Research and Students.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. N.p., 24 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

I was particularly interested in this study because of the emphasis the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has put on STEM related fields, and the increased funding (especially in Race to the Top grantees) that is being earmarked for science and related fields.  Further, the Obama administration has called for training 10,000 new engineers each year, and 100,000 STEM teachers by 2020.  These figures are based on predictions of the need for more than 1 million STEM workers over the next decade.  But as Robert Charette reports,

And yet, alongside such dire projections, you’ll also find reports suggesting just the opposite—that there are more STEM workers than suitable jobs. One study found, for example, that wages for U.S. workers in computer and math fields have largely stagnated since 2000. Even as the Great Recession slowly recedes, STEM workers at every stage of the career pipeline, from freshly minted grads to mid- and late-career Ph.D.s, still struggle to find employment as many companies, including Boeing, IBM, and Symantec, continue to lay off thousands of STEM workers. Charette, Robert. “The STEM Crisis Is a Myth.” – IEEE Spectrum. N.p., 30 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

STEM Crisis or Cyclic?

The Chronicle survey reported various opinions of scientists on the question, Is there a STEM crisis?  They put it this way:

One important question that underlies such statistics but often evades rigorous analysis is whether the country and the world really need all those highly trained scientists and their studies. The Chronicle’s survey turned up at least a dozen researchers who felt that talk of crisis was overblown. Some suggested that smaller budgets would help researchers concentrate on the most important elements of their work, or bring a needed culling of a bloated scientific establishment.

According the Chronicle authors, Michael S. Teitelbaum, in a new book–due in March, (Falling Behind? Boom, Bust, and the Global Race for Scientific Talent) says that the current downturn is the fifth “alarm boom bust” since the late 1940s.

The survey shines a light on the belief schools need to produce more STEM students, graduates, and workers.  Charette’s article, The STEM Crisis is a Myth” is worth a read if you want facts and figures to counter state officials and the U.S. Department of Education who claim we have a STEM crisis.

What connection do see between the reduction in funds for basic research, and reports that there is a national STEM crisis in the supply of STEM workers?