Science-less students costing Canada: report

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Canada is experiencing a serious shortage of students who graduate high school with enough science, math, engineering, and technology education.

A report from a national science outreach program suggests too many students are dropping out of those subjects and it is costing the country millions of dollars in lost opportunities.

The study claims less than half of high school students end up with senior-level science and math courses, yet 70 per cent of Canada’s top jobs require the skills and experience gained through science, math, and technology education.

“We’re seeing a disconnect that’s only getting wider as retirement takes place and the new economy builds different jobs into the Canadian landscape,” says Bonnie Schmidt, president of Let’s Talk Science.

She says there are direct financial costs to students, parents, taxpayers and schools when students have to go back and retake courses to get into college or university; opportunity costs associated with jobs not filled and lost future earnings; and the cost to society as we start to lack talented, skilled people and lag behind other countries.

Schmidt says industry, educators, government, parents and kids themselves need to become more engaged with science.

“We need to start young. I don’t think it’s smart for us to only talk about this as a high school issue. We need to be engaging kids in the sand box and getting them involved with science education. Science needs to be presented in a very relevant and integrated way.”

That’s a sentiment echoed by some of Canada’s top scientists and researchers.

“Who will be managing the next BlackBerry? Who will be understanding where to look for the next generation of natural resources? Who’s going to be the next generation of skilled technicians who take care of the new technologies and businesses?” asks Tim Meyer with TRIUMF, one of the world’s leading particle physics research facilities, based at UBC.

Meyer points out Canadians played important roles in the discovery of the Higgs boson — or “God particle” — which led to the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics being awarded to François Englert and Peter W. Higgs this week. He hopes that inspires more students to become involved in the sciences but admits it’s an uphill battle.

“We live in a society where if you say you can’t read, people say we have to fix that. But you are allowed to say you never liked physics or you never understood math and you were never good at it — that’s considered okay. Our cultural approach sends some messages,” Meyer tells News1130.

“Canadians had a part in making this Nobel Prize possible. Friends, family, teachers, other adults should say ‘bravo.’ Being recognized for that is a positive outcome and is an experience of accomplishment and we should have our children recognize that. You can be a hockey player or you could be a scientist and there are opportunities for excellence and recognition with both.”

Meyer also believes informal science education plays as important a role as formal education in inspiring students to follow a career in the sciences.

“Every time you have a child at Science World, you have a parent there, too. Both those people are important in determining the future.”

TRIUMF hosts up to 3,000 people a year at open houses and drop-in public tours, along with many more young people  on class tours.

“We see it as part of our mission. We’re a publicly-funded laboratory doing some of the word’s best science, so we have an obligation and an opportunity to share that,” explains Meyer.

“What does a particle accelerator look like that’s about to make medical isotopes and save people’s lives? What does it look like when someone comes here to get treatment for eye cancer and save their vision? To inspire and share that with people is put the actual scientists and students out there to mix with the people and share their passion, share the possibility that you can have a life making a difference to humanity doing this type of work.”