Pearson Invited to Serve on National Academies of Science Panel

Posted April 21, 2016

Willie Pearson Jr., professor of Sociology in the School of History and Sociology, has been invited to serve as a member of the National Academy of Sciences panel “Evaluate the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics Approach to Measuring the Science and Engineering Workforce.” 

Project Scope, according to the NAS:

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT), at the request of the National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), will convene an ad hoc panel to review, assess, and provide guidance on NCSES’s approach to measuring the science and engineering (S&E) workforce population in the United States. Given the evolving data needs of NCSES stakeholders and the budget climate uncertainty under which NCSES operates, a priority for the panel is to develop a framework for measuring the S&E workforce that provides flexibility to examine emerging issues related to this unique population while at the same time allowing for stability in the estimation of key trends. 

The framework developed by the panel should provide direction on measuring the S&E workforce population in terms of content, data sources, survey design, survey methodology, data collection, data processing, data integration, and data dissemination. The panel should consider the challenges involved in: 

-measuring the S&E workforce over multiple decades,  
-using a variety of data sources given that the availability of these sources could change over time,  
-taking advantage of lessons learned from how other developed countries collect information on scientists and engineers, 
-employing the most efficient and effective methodology at any given time, and  
-meeting the evolving data needs of policy makers, researchers, and the public. 

At the end of its review, the panel will issue a report with findings, recommendations, and priorities for improving the relevance, accuracy, timeliness, and cost-effectiveness of S&E workforce data for the next decade and beyond. 

To read more, visit the project information page on the National Academies of Science webpage.