Senior executives in some of the fastest-growing U.S. biotechnology, computers, communications networking, life sciences, and engineering companies are concerned about the rising competition for scientific and technical workers; many acknowledge their industries still suffer from a lack of women, Blacks, Native American, and Hispanic American STEM workers, yet they appear not to fully recognize the untapped talent pool embodied by these underrepresented groups, according to the latest survey commissioned by Bayer Corporation as part of its Making Science Make Sense® (MSMS) program.

In the latest Bayer Facts of Science Education XII survey: CEOs on STEM Diversity: The Need, The Seed, The Feed, released May 2006, CEOs and other C-level executives of 100 of some of the fastest growing American science and technology companies were polled on a variety of manpower and workforce diversity issues about girls, minorities, and U.S. science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. Here’s what they had to say:
 
CEOs assigned an average grade of "C-" (2.87) to the U.S. pre-college or K-12 education system for the job it is doing engaging and nurturing girls and minorities to pursue STEM careers.
 

Higher education fared somewhat better with CEOs assigning it an average "C+" grade for training girls and minorities for STEM careers. In addition, more than one-half (56 percent) believe U.S. colleges and universities are doing a good job preparing students for workplace realities.
 

Almost all the CEOs (96 percent) say it is important (72 percent "very important") that girls and minorities receive a strong science and math education beginning in elementary school in order to eliminate their under representation in STEM fields
 

Some eight in ten (81 percent) say, that in elementary school, science should be taught as the fourth "R" and given as much emphasis as reading, writing, arithmetic.
 

They (82 percent) believe elementary school students should be learning science through hands-on, inquiry-based methods that allow students to conduct experiments, form opinions and discuss and defend their conclusions with others – rather than through the traditional textbook-based, rote memorization method.
 

Eight in ten (83 percent) believe STEM companies have a role to play in ensuring that women and minorities succeed in science and engineering fields and almost all (91 percent) say it is important for their companies to support pre-college science education programs that help create the next generation of inventors, innovators and discoverers (55 percent "very important".)
 

And while only approximately one-third (37 percent) say their companies and/or employees engage in such programs, nearly three in five (56%) of CEOs whose companies/employees do not yet participate, say they would indeed like to.