The Daily. Wednesday, December 19, 2001

Determinants of skills in science and technology

Only a small proportion of students entering the elementary school system ultimately pursue a career in science and technology, according to a new report that examines the linkages between how Canadians are acquiring science and technology skills in schools and how they are using them in the labour force.

The study, available today in Education quarterly review, Statistics Canada's flagship publication for education statistics, shows that interest in mathematics and science declines between Grades 4 and 8, and continues to drop during high school.

This drop in interest was more evident in Canada and the United States than in other countries participating in 1994/95 Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). TIMSS was conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement.

Science and technology skills have been central to many discussions about Canada's future economic development, in which the ability to produce, market and consume new goods and services is expected to play an even more important role than in the past. Innovation requires research and development, which in turn requires skilled workers such as scientists, engineers and technicians.

Given the option, however, many students in the upper grades of secondary school stop taking mathematics and science. In 1995, only 42% of students were taking both these courses in their last year of high school. Most found them "difficult" or "boring". Many students have been unwilling to pursue these courses-even when they have done well in the past and believe the subjects are important to them if they want to succeed in life.

Canadian students are capable of doing well in mathematics and science. Canada's average scores on the TIMSS for all grade levels in both mathematics and science were close to the international average, or significantly above. This occurred despite the fact that the results included the performance of students who had already opted out of upper secondary school mathematics and science courses.

At the university level, the "science stream" is quite stable. There is no evidence of a large-scale movement into or out of science programs between the bachelor's and master's levels or between the master's and doctoral levels. One exception is the large proportion of master's graduates in business who have undergraduate degrees in science. In general, though, university graduates in the sciences who go on to graduate studies stay in the sciences.

Depending on the field of study, between 65% and 95% of the university graduates surveyed were working in jobs that were closely related or somewhat related to their field of study. (The average for all graduates, including those from non-science fields, was 77%.) Graduates in agricultural and biological sciences were the least likely (65%) to be in jobs related to their fields of study.

This study supports other findings regarding the under-employment of master's and doctoral graduates. Two years after graduation, more than half of all master's graduates in this study felt they were overqualified for their job. In the case of science graduates, this means they were not using their science and technology skills to full advantage.

In addition to data from the 1994/95 TIMSS, this study also used data from Statistics Canada's 1990 and 1995 National Graduates Surveys.

The article "Determinants of science and technology skills: Overview of the study" is available in the Winter 2001 issue of Education quarterly review (81-003-XIE, $16/$51; 81-003-XPB, $21/$68). A paper version of the publication will be available later this month. The article, "Determinants of science and technology skills: Overview of the study", is available free on Statistics Canada's website (). Look under Our products and services, then In depth.

For more information, contact Client Services (1 800 307-3382 or 613-951-7608; fax: 613-951-9040; educationstats@statcan.gc.ca), Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics. To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Michael Bordt (613-951-8585; michael.bordt@statcan.gc.ca), Science, Innovation and Electronic Information Division.