No European Scientists Left by 2020?

Brussels (ots/PRNewswire) -

Business Leaders, European Schoolnet and the European 
Commission launch
              EUR8.3mn initiative to encourage teenagers to study 
science and maths

European business leaders and education policy makers have
launched today an EUR8.3mn initiative to inspire students to study
science at university - a much needed skill set if the region's
economy is to recover and flourish by 2020.

InGenious is a new European coordinating body for science,
technology, engineering and mathematics education which brings
together the collective wisdom of the European Commission, 30
Ministries of Education involved in European Schoolnet and major
international companies such as Volvo, Shell, Philips, BASF, Nokia,
Microsoft and Intel.

Founded by European Round Table of Industrialists and European
Schoolnet, InGenious will:

- Demonstrate how science and technology skills can help 
young people get
          jobs
        - Enhance the relevance of school science by showing how 
cutting edge science
          and technology contributes to students' lives
        - Fight stereotypes by giving a more realistic view of 
scientific jobs, and
          encouraging women and minorities to consider scientific 
careers

Lack of scientists threatens Europe's economic recovery

At present Asian countries train twice as many scientists compared
to European member states, and three times as many engineers[1].

This training gap is threatening the future of Europe's economic
recovery due to the lack of qualified scientific and technical human
resources - the key drivers of scientific progress and innovation.
Although the number of graduates in the fields is now increasing
slowly, their academic achievement falls well behind that of their
Asian counterparts according to PISA statistics.

Unless this gap is addressed, companies operating in Europe will
need to recruit scientific and engineering talent from other regions,
or even close facilities in Europe in favour of other regions. This
will have a negative impact on salary levels and local economies -
high level R&D is typically a well-paid and resource-intensive
activity.

Maire Geoghan-Quin, European Commissioner for Science, Research
and Innovation, highlighted the scale of the problem in a recent
speech to the Tyndall Institute in Ireland:

"We cannot risk our future growth and competitiveness by cutting
back now on the investment in education, research and innovation that
is necessary for long-term and sustained recovery," said Ms
Geoghan-Quinn.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Western European students the least likely to study science, maths
and engineering

An indicator[2] developed by the European Round Table of
Industrialists demonstrates that those countries where students are
least likely to choose science, maths and engineering are France,
Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK.

At the same time, even Europe's highest scientific achievers -
Finnish students - are still outperformed by Chinese students in
Shanghai and Hong Kong according to OECD figures[3].

In the recent Eurydice report on science education[4], Androula
Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education and Youth, noted:

"Many international reports identify the potential shortage of
human resources in key scientific professions and call for
modernising science teaching in school. How is it possible to raise
the motivation of pupils, to increase their interest in science, and
at the same time, to increase attainment levels?"

InGenious invites companies, educational organisations and
federations to join this exciting partnership, and work together to
collectively address the challenge of science and technology skills
in Europe. The partnership enables existing players to upgrade, pool
and enhance their activities in science and technology education
through long-term cooperation. For information on how to join
InGenious, visit: http://ingenious-science.eu/web/guest/ap-info

Key data on science and technology education

- Data on the supply development indicator and background 
information on the
          set up of InGenious - the European coordinating body for 
STEM education can be found
          in the ERT "Mathematics, science and technology report"
          http://ert.eu/ERT/Docs/01717.pdf
        - Data on national policies, practices and research in STEM 
education can be
          found in the new Eurydice report
          http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/them
atic_reports/133EN.pdf
        - PISA 2006 report on science competency and achievement
          http://www.oecd.org/document/2/0,3343,en_32252351_32236191_
39718850_1_1_1_1,00.html

About InGenious

InGenious is the platform of the European Coordinating Body in
Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education. It
is a joint initiative launched by European Schoolnet
(http://www.eun.org) and the European Roundtable of Industrialists
(http://www.ert.eu) aiming to reinforce young European's interest in
science education and careers and thus address the future skills gap.
It is financed under the European Commission's 7th Framework Research
Programme.

About European Schoolnet

European Schoolnet (http://www.europeanschoolnet.org) is a network
of 30 Ministries of Education from across the European member states,
leading educational innovation at European level. As a major
international think tank, European Schoolnet operates key European
services in education on behalf of the European Commission, member
Ministries.

The Coordinating Body in Maths, Science and Technology (Grant
agreement N 266622) is supported by the European Union's Framework
Programme for Research and Development (FP7). The content is the sole
responsibility of the Consortium Members and it does not represent
the opinion of the European Union and the European Union is not
responsible or liable for any use that might be made of information
contained herein.

1. http://ert.eu/ERT/Docs/01717.pdf

2. http://ert.eu/ERT/Docs/01717.pdf

3. http://www.oecd.org/document/53/0,3746,en_32252351_46584327_46
584821_1_1_1_1,00.html

4. http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/themati
c_reports/133EN.pdf

For more information, please contact:

Alexa Joyce, InGenious Project manager, [email protected], tel.
+32-485-52-30-60

Visit http://www.ingenious-science.eu

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