With funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, PRB launched a new project in 2005 to investigate the characteristics of scientists and engineers (S&E) in the United States using data from the American Community Survey (ACS). We will translate and disseminate our research findings to a broad audience through our website and printed publications, consulting with subject experts, data producers, and information users to help guide our activities.
The ACS is a new survey designed for continuous collection of demographic, housing, social, and economic information from 3 million households per year. The ACS provides detailed information about education, employment, income, race/ethnicity, nativity status, commuting patterns, and other key social and economic characteristics. Traditionally, such information was available only once a decade, and then several years after the decennial census date. With the ACS, a continuous stream of updated information of unprecedented usefulness will be available to people and organizations working to improve social and economic conditions. Under this project, we are:
- Developing a methodology for producing from the ACS periodic estimates of the numbers of persons in particular science and engineering (S&E) occupations, at the national, state and (if supported by the data) sub-state levels, and for important population groups, such as immigrants (by country of origin), by sex, age group, and by level of education.
- Developing and instituting national and regional translation and dissemination processes and activities to put the resulting information into the hands of constituencies who heretofore have had to make individual and organizational decisions with out-of-date or otherwise inadequate data. These constituencies include:
--High school guidance counselors who advise students on career choices
--College undergraduates who are deciding on graduate school paths—between different science and engineering concentrations, and between S&E and other career paths.
--Private employers who may face staff retirements and want to know the availability of technical workers, by field and age, in their geographic area;
--Current or potential members of the S&E workforce who want to better understand the changing characteristics of the labor force in particular states or local areas.
--Policymakers, journalists, and the general public—whose understanding of the science and engineering workforce is sometimes based on anecdotal evidence or outdated ideas.
Contact: Mark Mather, 202-483-1100.