The prevailing view that scientists are survivors, identified early as the best and brightest of a static pool of talent that shrinks as students progress through school, isn't borne out by recent studies on student academic preferences and career decisions during and after high school.
As a result, say those concerned with the problem, federal officials must go beyond efforts to enlarge the size of that initial pool of talent in elementary and secondary school. Rather, they must seek to better understand the reasons why a large group of talented high school students either forgo college entirely or study something besides science as undergraduates.
"Rather than waiting for the winners to reveal themselves, we need to take the kids who have expressed an interest and encourage them to stay in science and math," says Valerie Lee, assistant professor of education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who has written ...
