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Suggested Citation:"Recommendations." National Research Council. 1988. Foreign and Foreign-Born Engineers in the United States: Infusing Talent, Raising Issues. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1525.
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Page 25
Suggested Citation:"Recommendations." National Research Council. 1988. Foreign and Foreign-Born Engineers in the United States: Infusing Talent, Raising Issues. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1525.
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Page 26
Suggested Citation:"Recommendations." National Research Council. 1988. Foreign and Foreign-Born Engineers in the United States: Infusing Talent, Raising Issues. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1525.
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Page 27
Suggested Citation:"Recommendations." National Research Council. 1988. Foreign and Foreign-Born Engineers in the United States: Infusing Talent, Raising Issues. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1525.
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Page 28

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RECOMMENDATIONS li2flc~ of Noncitizen Engine; and Engw3~ing Students For the reasons stated ~ the pr~5i~ sections, the Remittee notes that contirr~ed entry arm in~nig~-ation of highly Scamp and highly motivated ~ = arm Inhering s-chants into He United States pa Hides desirable Opportunities and perhaps pn:iblm s. If cur- rent trends require changes, these should be in lemenbed t ~ Oh the objective replacement of noncitizen , equally competent or superior U.S. applicants. oraduaterschool applicants by The present situation works to the advantage of the United States when viewed from the per spective that superior, highly trained, well-motivated people are being added to a critical At of our labor form, without as~ainable interferers with Table ~porbunities for qualified U.S. citizens, possibly ~ e academic labor market. me clollar ~ to He country for airing the services of these Any gift individ- ua~ s is relatively Ice, ,su~antially 1~" than the real cost of bribing a U.S. citizen to the same beret of training art performance. The public at large may perceive the existence of a problem when native born students do not participate in adequate numbers in pres- tigious, important, intellectually rewarding, and relatively well-pay- ing occupations that are of key importance to national defense and eco- nomic well-being. That these developments have occurred at all clearly reflects faulty policies and serious deficiencies ~ the U.S. educa- tional and value ~ a. Federal policies bear some of the responsi - ~ ~ ~ By reducing bility for the shift in balance to foreign-born engineers. the number of graduate fellows trips restricted to U.S. citizens and by supporting graduate studies instead to research assistantships that are generally open to all graduate streets, f~eral policies have contrih~d to Be decline of IJ.S.-born standers pc~lati~s In engineer ing In favor of Ad foreign-bc~n~ Goring sent Exhalations. Ibe Remittee notes too drastic rP~3;al Resay dhort-term treasure that will be Frost immediately effective and a long~term am proadh. He latter could have the desirable Go of creating a tedhn~ logically Detent society that will function as a world leader ~ ternational competition, Pile guaranteeing high standards of economic well-being and ~n~ll~h~al achievements for its citizens. _, , - _ , l 25

Shortener Charges: Increasir~g Fellowships With Adequate Stipends for U.S. Graduate Students The size of the pool of B.S. er~g~neering graduates with U.S. citi- zenship is ~ h larger than the Inter go apply to Wagering yr=~- Nate schools. One reason for this dearth of U.S. applicants has been the lure of immediate employment at very attract ive salaries. To over- come this barrier, we recomb end the establishment of well-pay mg y~-adu- ate fellowships in engineering for U.S. citizens with stipends that would be t pearly) competitive with attractive opportunities for immedi- ate industrial employment after cc mpletion of undergraduate sly hues. Engineering faculty members have enjoyed differential rC~1 ary scales that are generally higher by 10-20 percent, depending on rank, than those of the ~ oolleagues at comparable ranks in cipher disciplines. Such allowances, however' have been made rarely, if ever, for graduate students. In view of the existence of a lucrative competitive employ- ment market and noting that engineering grade ate student_ are embarking on a lengthy and demanding career that is nak overtly more desirable than early industrial employment, inducements may be needed to retain in academe sew of the best of the B. S . graduate . A careful cost- benefit assessment of augmented stipends for indigenous graduate students of eng' nearing has not been available to the Cc~nmitt~ and should be performed. Tt s;hauld be noted that the job market for fleering graduates charges periodical ly and that there are irxlications that scone deteriora- tion has taken place Turing the last 2 years. Never ~ ess, nearly all baccalaureate holders who seek employment as eng beers still seem to be able to obtain good engineering jobs. In implementing any newly recom- mended fellowship program, employment markets should be monitored and recommended programs changed appropriately if supply-demand relation- ships change. m e LongJTerm Solution: Augmented Eng veering Education for U.S. Students The long-term solution is far more costly and will be far more difficult to implement. The long-term solution is a significant ~m- provement in cur entire educational system, from kindergarben through college, with students required to prepare themselves for intelligent citizenship in a highly complex technological society. The result, within a period of 10-15 years, will be a student body with much better ba~r~und and interest In mathematically, scientifically, and ted logically oriented subjects. The Committee believes that this desrel- ~nt is likely to have two effects. First, it will probably price a considerably larger her of undergraduate engineering students. Furthermore, it shard produce a larger proportion of baccalaureate holders interested in graduate studies In eng~n~ring. At that point in time, any special fellaws;hip program for superior U.S. graduate students Should be phased out, and retention of superior foreign-born participants may also be reduced. 26

For an advanced technological society, engineering education Cult be viewed not only as a nemssit~r for professional training hat also as a cultural redirect for many other occupations. This desire able go can only be achieved by raising the general level of engineers ing Retinae for all citizens. Monitory of Po~centia] :~bl~; Ink Noncitizen Faculty and Teaching Assistants It has been nc ted that significant language problems among non- citizen or foreign-born teaching assistants and faculty members may pro- vide disincentives for U.S.-born students to learn effectively and even to major in engineering. This problem can be controlled by the pro per monitoring of beaching performance through reviews. We suggest that university officials monitor student teaching reviews in order to de- tect and correct unusual problems' should they arise. This important function should probably be removed from the jurisdiction of individual departments, where it normally resides, and transferred to a central ad- ministrative office that is charged with the responsibility of enforc- ing the highest stream of existence in instruction at all ferrets. ~?X~; in Engineering Education and U.S. Competitiveness in International Markets A tacit assumption made in our evaluations is that eng~n~ring education plays a key role In ensuring international cx~titiveness. This tenet is unprepared arm carat represent the entire story, or even a major part of it, because ~ 3rnic ~ Ida ~ was lost while engineering education (as measured in terms of numbers of faculty members involved, publications, research, budgets, and Ph.D.s tra mea) rema Wed supreme in the world. The suggestion has been made that U.S. engineering education does not respond properly to current needs and requires drastic revitaliza- tion of the type that occurred in the 1950s, when broadly based engi- nee ring-science curricula were first introduced. Joist what this revi- ta~ization should involve is properly the subject of another study. Referring to items that may be important in economic competitiveness, it is certain that most U.S. engineering curricula are deficient in training In design, manufacturing, and economic evaluations, as well as proficiency in foreign languages. me first two of these deficiencies are currently made up, to some extent, by bringing from industry to the universities lecturers who are experts in these disciplines. Mbre sys- tematic efforts of this type Should clearly be made. Son peaple have argued that U. S. economic competitiveness high t~hr~ogy fields may be elhar~d by the "tablis~nt of E=i neerir~ Prearm ~tens; that are designed to achieve excellence In targeted areas of research and associated applications. These aerators often involve both U.S. and foreign Cronies as sponsors and will, of 27

purse, be Ex$~1ated by ID. gestate stints of vein currently a ma- jority are of foreign birth. As we have Nate, approximately 80 per- ce:nt (about 45 E~erw~t U.S. citizens, 10 Rent foreigners with perma- nent vi - a, and abed 60 At of the 45 pat foreign Absents with t ~ vary vi-at of the Ph.D. go- ate s ~ ~ s bra Bed In these centers will ultimately rema ~ in the United States. Assessment of the impacts of the Engineering Research Centers on international competi- tion will ~ long-term monitoring. University graduate-engineoring curricula have tended to stress en- g~neering science, especially at major research centers. As we have re- peatedly noted, this emphasis may be further increased because the young, foreign-born engineers who are being added to the university fac- ulties in large numbers often excel in engineering science rather than in engineering practice. m at this is a matter for concern is certain, and that it is widely recognize] as a potential problem is illustrated by presentations to this Committee and by discussions at its workshop redating to the need for a reevaluation of engineering education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. WE strongly recomb end an independent examination of trends in U.S. engineering education and their likely impact on U.S. economic well- being and competitiveness in international markets. Data Gaels There are considerable data on foreign engineers and engineering students in the UP ted States. Nevertheless, major data gaps rema concerning the movement of eng Peers to and from the United States. Specifically, there seems to be no quantitative information on career patterns of foreign students who left the United States. We should know how many of these students returned to this country in order to assess whether the subsidy provided to their education produces a bene- fit to the UP States at some later point in time and also to enable researchers in the Unite] States to make long-term projections about the supply of engineers in cur work force. Furthermore, for those who did not return, we should have some insights as to whether the American study exposure proved beneficial to the country of their subsequent re- sidence, whether they achieved positions in which they could further economic or cultural cooperation with the United States, an] whether their subsequent positions could harm American economic or military se- curity through undesirable technology transfer. Career data are also unavailable for Americans who spent long periods abroad in professional a e 8 a e , , or postdoctoral St' 15 ; Yes I or assignments at foreign locations of mLltination~1 companies--before returning to the U m ted States. acclvl~les--sucn as research, pcstgra~uate lonq-term visits with industrial colleagues The follow-up data on foreign students who have left the United States could be developed by using tedhni~es already utilized in at 28

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