What the U.S. Can Learn from Indian R&D

What the U.S. Can Learn from Indian R&D

Engineering companies in India play a leading role in educating their research employees, a practice the U.S. can adopt to help keep its global competitive edge

BusinessWeek

by Vivek Wadhwa

We've heard the dire warnings before. The U.S. is falling behind in math and science. A recent admonition came from the Business Roundtable, which cautioned that the U.S. could lose its competitive edge to India and China unless it doubles higher education graduation rates in engineering and science. Intel (INTC) Chairman Craig Barrett, a member of the influential association of executives, said America's economic future lies with its next generation of workers and its ability to develop new technologies and products. This means we must strengthen math and science education, he said. Yes, we need to keep improving education.
But too great an emphasis on education at the university and high school level lets off the hook another crucial contributor to the education of U.S. workers: the workplace.