The Lenovo 2011 Global Student Science and Technology Outlook, a global survey of 4,800 students. reveals that students in emerging countries - India, Mexico and Russia - are pursuing science-related careers over students in developed countries, including Canada, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S.
Some key findings:
· Is Science Cool? -- While 89 percent of students think science is “cool,” only slightly more than half are considering pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM).
· Patriotic Relevance -- India ranked highest (82 percent) for those who believe it’s very important for their country to lead the world in science. In contrast, students in the US, UK and Canada and the UK trailed at 73, 60 and 55 percent, respectively.
· What’s the road block? – The two most common reasons for hesitating to pursue a career in STEM – lack of confidence/ability to do well and too much work.
When it comes to exploring space, nearly all (approximately 80 percent) of students say they want to be a space tourist. To get them closer to that, Lenovo is partnering with YouTube on the YouTube Space Lab program, an online competition asking students around the world to submit an experiment that can be performed in zero gravity aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The winner/winning team’s experiment will be conducted in a live stream from the ISS in 2012 for the world to see while the winner/winning team also receives the choice of astronaut training in Star City, Russia or a trip to Tanegashima Island, Japan to watch their experiment blast off into space.
