A year and a half of information gathering has led Dr. Mark Barteau and a committee of experts to provide 11 recommendations to the U.S. Department of Defense on how to improve the supply of both foreign and domestic talent in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
In April 2023, Barteau, professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering and the Department of Chemistry at Texas A&M University, was selected to lead a study on international talent programs in the changing global environment.
The committee focused on foreign talent programs along with domestic incentive programs that seek to recruit and retain top scientific researchers.
One goal was to understand what mechanisms other nations use to attract and retain talent and recommend ways for the U.S. to compete more effectively. These recommendations have been published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
“I think some of the important findings are of the importance of international talent to the United States,” Barteau said. “In fact, if you look at advanced degree holders in the defense industrial base, they're about 50% foreign born. This shows how vital international talent is, even to issues of national security as well as to economic prosperity.”
The committee's first recommendation is for the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to oversee the coordination of a whole-of government talent strategy, including national talent recruitment and retention.
“I think it's fair to say that many other nations are much more nimble than the United States in their approach to recruiting,” Barteau said. “One of the things that the report recommends is the development of a national talent development and recruiting strategy to be coordinated by the Office of Science Technology Policy and reaching across federal agencies.”
Many of the recommendations are related to research security, maintaining flows of talent to the United States from abroad, and improving the development of the domestic talent supply in STEM fields.
Other suggestions made by the committee include working with universities, industry, national laboratories, and the scientific community to advance international research collaborations.
The committee stressed the continuing development of training for research security and integrity, while also increasing research security that mitigates risks but does not restrict international collaborations, according to the report.
Additional advice includes building on relationships with trusted allies to develop stronger collaborative partnerships and using existing authorities of federal agencies to retain foreign-born STEM experts who are already in the U.S.
Continuing support for universities, foundations, and industry with strong international research partnerships was also addressed, as well as developing a public-facing dashboard that collects and aggregates information and showcases important metrics on international talent.
“We recommended that Congress consider essentially a 21st century version of the National Defense Education Act of 1958,” Barteau said. “We responded to Sputnik by saying we need to emphasize STEM education and research in this country.”
With about 40% of scientific publications by U.S. authors involving an author at a foreign institution, Barteau said that international collaboration is common and restricting it will inhibit our own progress.
The study, conducted by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense as a response to the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act passed by Congress.
“The United States has been winning the ‘brain drain’ game for the last 90 years,” Barteau said. “However, in this century, we face increasing competition for top talent from both friends and potential foes. This study highlights the need for a national strategy both to develop domestic STEM talent and to improve our competitiveness for recruitment and retention of international talent.”