Covering the business of education and training

For all the alarms being sounded about America not having enough scientists and engineers, last year the number of doctorates awarded in science and engineering rose for the third consecutive year to reach an all-time high.

The number of doctorates awarded was 27,974 surpassing the record set in 1998 of 27,273.

However, doctorates awarded to US citizens was barely half of that total - 14,912 and 8% of those were Asian Americans.

The top five fields for doctorates:

1. Engineering - 6,404

2. Biological Sciences - 6,368

3. Mathematics - 1,203

4. Computer Science - 1,136

Doctorates in non-science and engineering fields were down to a three year low.

So, is America doing alright in the S & E fields? Are there enough youngsters coming up to keep the numbers rising? Are there more doctorates being awarded simply because there are more people to draw from? What about percentages?

What do you think?