NUMBERS AND WHAT THEY MEAN The current shortage of scientists and engineers has become a popular subject for discussion; much of the latter has sought to find a "scapegoat." More fingers appear to be pointed a t the high school than in any other direction All parties in the high school are targets for the fineer nointine-the state boards of education for req n k n g teacher training in the arts of teaching rather than in subject matter; the communities themselves for their low pay scales and their rather low opinion of people who teach when they might earn more working for industry; the school boards for using nonscientists to teach science courses; the teachers themselves for the poor quality of the science courses they teach; and finally the students for their disdain of scientists. As evidence of the sorry state of science teaching in the high schools statements are made to the effect that high-school students are "staying away from science in droves," that "only one of every I 1 high-school students takes chemistry." Let's put our fingers back in our pockets and raise a quizzical eyebrow instead. Are students staying away from science in droves? Is it strictly accurate to say that only one out of 11 high-school students takes chemistry? Do only three or four or even five per cent take physics? What do the numbers really show? -
'It is probably true that a t any one time only 9 or 10 per cent of the high-school population are taking chemistry. These numbers are not meaningful in terms of the training of scientists. The pertinent question is: how many members of the high-school graduating class will have had chemistry or physics or three years or more of mathematics? From the graduating class come those who enter our colleges and universities, not from the group who fail to complete the high-school program. Science requires the good student, not the poor one. As far as I know, there are no figures currently available to indicate accurately the science training of high-school graduates, hut an approximate figure can be obtained. In 1954, 595,000 high-school students were taking chemistry. During the year 1953-54, 1,356,000 students graduated from high school. Had all the students been taking chemistry in the senior year and had all the chemistry students graduated from high school, some 43 per cent of the graduating class would have completed a course in high-school chemistry. This approximation is significant, for it shows that considerably more than one in 11 high-school graduates has had a course in chemistry. Applying the same reasoning to physics, 365,000 high-school students took physics in 1954-a figure which is roughly 27 per cent of the graduating class. This is far above the 3 per cent figure recently
The recent announcement in Chemical and Enginewing News thst Harry F. Lewis was awarded the TAPPI gold mednl for 1956 referred to him as "an active member of the A. C. 5." Those who know him recogniee this as the understatement of the year. Men of normal vitality and enthusiasm accept jobs: Harry Lewis leadscrusades. The achievements of The Institute of Paper Chemistry and its alumni in the industry are his monument. An educator by instinct, he has led the small-college teacher to realize not only that he can do research, hut also that s 30,470 (1953)). it is important for him to do so ( s e e ~ mJOURNAL. Moreover, he has helped industry to share this view. He has devoted countless hours during this last year to the travels and speaking engagements he has assumed as ohairman of the Division of Chemical Education. When asked by the editors to "view from the window," his reply was, "It will probably he that of a Pullman or hotel." We are sure readers will share our conviction that his insight matches his vision as he looks at some numbers.
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quoted and is much more realistic. These figures check well with the actual registration figures in some 243 high schools in Wisconsin in 1954. When the actual number of students taking chemistry in the eleventh and twelfth grades was averaged for a single class, the percentage was 45. It is, therefore, safe to say that a relatively large number of high-school graduates had been introduced t o chemistry and a fair number to physics. I n Wisconsin in 1954, similar calculations would suggest that the percentage who had trigonometry, however, probably did not exceed 8 per cent, while only 14 per cent had advanced algebra. Not only have many high-school graduates had chemistry but quite a significant percentage of the superior high-school students are interested in a career of science and technology. A recent countrywide sampling made by the College Entrance Examination Board for the National Science Foundation showed that 25 per cent of the boys in the top 30 per cent of the samples said they would like to be engineers 15 years from now, while 6 per cent specified physical science; 56 per cent of the boys would have liked t o have taken more science in high school. An additional item to report is taken from the March 12, 1956, Time magazine in which it is said that of the 5000 semifinalists in the first annual merit Scholarship Corporation Award, 56 per cent (purely coincidental) of the boys intend t o become scientists and engineers, while 36 per cent of the girls plan to teach. So we do have a sizeable number who are interested in science and who have had an introduction to chemistry when they enter college. What happens to them a t this point? It is impossible to say with accuracy what percentage of the 595,000 students in the high-school chemistry classes of 1954 entered college. If average, then 31 per cent of the number or 175,000 registered in college that fall. How many went into the general chemistry course is hard to say with certainty, but we do know from figures gathered by Dr. Otto Smith that there were some 230,000 or more students registered in general chemistry the fall of 1954. I n June of 1958, if the recent pattern is followed, only 6000 or 7000 of these will graduate as chemistry majors. How many of the 230,000 were qualified to go on into a career in chemistry we do not know, nor do we know how many who were qualified were lost t o chemistry by a poor experience in general chemistry, but it is reasonable to conclude that their number is legion. How many who managed to have a good experience in general chemistry were discouraged by poor teaching in either analytical or organic chemist-probably quite a number? I say this because of the wide disparity in the effectiveness of various colleges and universities as baccalaureate origins for Ph.D.'s in chemistry. National Research Council Publication 382 from Dr. Trytten's Office of Scientific Personnel provides convincing proof. One hundred and twenty-four liberal-arts colleges have given undergraduate training to more than ten chemistry Ph.D.'s in the last 15 years. These are the produc-
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
tive colleges. Two hundred and two colleges provided not more than one Ph.D. in the same period, and many of these have failed to provide any; these are the nonproductive colleges. Similarly, one Big Ten university gave undergraduate training to 359 chemistry Ph.D.'s, another Big Ten school trained only 42 during the same 15-year period. The differences are not due alone to the quality of the student, for there are productive and nonproductive schools a t each level having similar geographical and cultural backgrounds. I n one, the chemical talent is stimulated; in the other, the talent is never even identified. I n one Midwestern college where chemistry is a popular course, since 1930 one in four chemistry majors has gone on to the Ph.D., another one in seven to the M.D.; a large number of the remainder have earned their master's degrees. A sister institution provided the undergraduate training for only one Ph.D. in chemistry in the 15-year period of the Trytten report. Now for some more numbers. The impression one gets from the press is that students are staying away from chemistry and physics in college as well as in high school. Actually there are very few pre-World War I1 statistics available t o provide any reasonable baseline from which t o conclude that the interest in chemistry and physics is on the wane. The first attempt a t providing widespread information on the number of majors in the various disciplines including physics and chemistry was that of the Office of Education in their series, "Earned Degrees Conferred by Higher Edncational Institutions," which began in 194748. These figures show that about one per cent of the men who graduate have a major in physics, and this is the case since 1947, a figure also developed in the report of the Joint Conference of the National Research Council and the American Institute of Physics this past year. The percentage of male chemistry majors has remained a t about 2.5 for the past five years. Mathematics majors represent about 1.5 per cent of the men in the graduating classes. The loss in scientists is partly a t least a result of the decrease in college enrollment following the immediate postwar years. It does not necessarily imply a loss in interest. While there may be a question in the minds of some individuals as to the need for more chemists there is very little question that we need better chemists. Whether more or/and better, the question is certainly related to better teaching and the whole subject of chemical education. The productive schools seem t o have the know-how; the unproductive schools lack the know-how. The outstanding teacher of chemistry, whether in high school, college, or university, is still the kingpin and should he recognized for what he is worth not only by his fellow scientists in all fields of scientific endeavor but by his employer. More power to him and more power t o the Division of Chemical Education as it works t o develop that recognition.
