Human Capacity Issues Along the STEM Pipeline

The development and maintenance of human capacity in economies is critical to long term competitiveness, but also for the overall health and environment of regions. Yet, human science and technology-based capacity is multidimensional and has interrelated characteristics which present certain policy challenges. This paper addresses a range of issues specific to a discussion on human capacity in S&T. First, the paper emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the complexity of human capacity issues and how they evolve along the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) pipeline. The pipeline is an often used reference to describe the training and development in STEM disciplines, from early childhood education, to more advanced training, and finally to professional collaboration and interaction and serves as a useful organizing framework for the discussion of capacity along the career evolution process. Second, the paper offers an organizing framework for discussion of policy mechanisms that have been developed to address issues and gaps that occur along this STEM pipeline. Specifically, it contrasts the traditional mechanisms of building human capacity in STEM areas with newer "gap filling" and integrated approached to addressed human capacity disparities and priorities. Third, the paper addresses core challenges in human capacity in STEM, including the education and training, participation of women and underrepresented groups, brain drain/brain circulation issues, and the globalization of science. The paper concludes with a discussion of policy implication for the development of human capacity.