Assuring a Globally Engaged Science and
Engineering Workforce Workshop

National Science Foundation Headquarters
September 20 - 22, 2006

Final Report:  published in 2007

Report Highlights:  published in the September-October 2007 Issue of American Scientist  magazine

Follow-up Report:  from the workshop held on July 28-29, 2008


Useful Global Engagement Links:

• US Government Research and Education Funding Agency International Activities/Programs
• US Scientific and Technical Associations' International Activities/Publications
• Reports on the Globalization of Science and Engineering
• Reports/Programs on STEM Education Issues
• Reports on Study Abroad
• Reports on Global Competitiveness and Global Competence
• Models of Virtual and Distance Science and Engineering Education
• Models of International Research and Education Exchanges
• Statistics on International Science and Engineering Trends 

NSF People Goal: A diverse, competitive, and globally engaged U.S. workforce of scientists, engineers, technologists and well-prepared citizens.

As science and engineering become increasingly global in nature, the National Science Foundation must continue to ensure that future generations at all levels of the S&E workforce are globally engaged. The endeavor requires innovative strategies to seed the educational, research and evaluation activities that ultimately build effective programs through which individuals, institutions and collaborations foster greater global engagement. This workshop and the report it generated will be key to NSF's planning process in developing those strategies.

The workshop introduced various aspects of global engagement at the individual scientist and engineer, institutional, and workforce levels of analysis. Panelists provided, for instance, an understanding about what individuals should be doing to become more globally engaged, examples of how institutions can change to foster support of those initiatives, and a review of workforce needs in a fast-changing science and technology landscape. Throughout, all of those aspects of global engagement were addressed from the perspectives of education, research, and industry.

The aims of the workshop were to:

• Strengthen and refine the understanding of the "globally engaged" dimension of NSF's People Goal
• Identify the key players and examples of promising research and educational strategies and programs that contribute to a globally engaged workforce
• Leverage the knowledge from communities that are currently "globally engaged" such as academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, public and private companies and organizations, and representatives from international organizations
• Begin to assess the current status of US scientists and engineers regarding global engagement
• Explore possible ways to strengthen the globally-engaged dimensions of the NSF People Goal and initiate a process to advance that goal, and
• Improve communication and cooperation between NSF directorates and between NSF and other organizations and institutions that address global engagement issues.

 
The results and recommendations from the workshop appeared in the final report published in 2007.  In addition, a highlighted version of the report appeared as a tip-in in the September-October 2007 issue of American Scientist  magazine.  A follow-up report was created from the workshop held on July 28-29, 2008.