Look at the chart of men in science professions in the UK from
1991 - 2001. It graphically shows what's going on.
click here
All of the science, engineering, and technology professions show a decline except one: computer analysts and programmers.
The reason is that all of the declining occupations require an advanced degree. But to work with software and computers you do not need a college degree. So many smart boys who are either not admitted or graduated from college go into computer programming and related fields (web design, game design, etc.). Smart boys without a college degree cannot go into the natural sciences, engineering, architecture and so on because those professions require a college education as a prerequisite.
Males predominate in the sciences. Here’s the data. click here
The reason males dominate the sciences is because of gender differences in the neurology of the brain. Males and females are equal in intelligence. Males and females are roughly equal in all areas of intelligence except two. Females are superior to males in the area of communication, both written and verbal. And males are superior to females in the area of spatial ability, which means technology, engineering and many of the other sciences.
The classic work documenting this difference is Gender and Fair Assessment by Warren Willingham and Nancy S. Cole. The topic “Sex and Intelligence” in Wikipedia provides other documentation substantiating these findings.
Since 1980, males have been a declining percentage of graduates in higher education. In the United States, this means that every year 2 million smart boys (boys who test at a high level and thus are smart enough to be in college) are missing from higher education. The phenomenon is the same in the United Kingdom and other post-industrial countries.
The answer is that there are not enough boys in the pipeline. That is, there are not enough smart boys entering and graduating from higher education at the undergraduate level to provide a sufficient number of new scientists and eliminate the concern about a scientist shortage.
