Engineering and High Technology Manpower Shortages: The Connection With Mathematics.

Current and projected manpower shortages in high technology areas are examined with respect to the region served by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). Many of the problems associated with the shortfall of trained individuals are viewed as connected to decreasing numbers of students taking advanced mathematics, and a lack of concerted efforts and strategies to reverse this trend. Sections presented include: (1) Wanted: High Technology Graduates; (2) Limited Supply of High Technology Graduates; (3) Constraint on Supply: High School Mathematics; (4) Women and Minorities: A Potential Source; (5) Mathematical Achievement: A General Decline; (6) The Shortage of Mathematics Teachers; (7) Supply and Demand Projections, Southern Region; (8) Mathematics and Computer Science; (9) The Outlook for Engineers; (10) How High Can Engineering Enrollments Go; (11) Supply and Demand for Engineers in the South; (12) Engineering Doctorates Sharply Down; (13) New Priorities and Changing Demands for High Technology Graduates; and (14) Conclusions. (MP)