The U.S. Technology Skills Gap, + Website: What Every Technology Executive Must Know to Save America’s Future

It is a fact. For nearly fifty years, American students have performed poorly in global and domestic math and science examinations. For a nation that annually invests $583 billion in public education, The U.S. Technology Skills Gap argues, the American taxpayer deserves a better return on investment. McKinsey and Company says it more bluntly: “These educational gaps imposed on the United States are the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession.”

Global technology expert Gary Beach pre-sents in The U.S. Technology Skills Gap an all-in-one-place primer on the history of math and science education in America. Presented chronologically, The U.S. Technology Skills Gap goes back over 100 years to connect the dots on why American students are falling further behind students in other countries and explains what this skills gap means for the future strength of America’s economy, the employability of its workforce, and the strength of its national security.

Based on his thirty-year career in the information technology arena, Beach proposes that if the U.S. aims to meet President Obama’s challenge to “out-innovate,” “out-educate,” and “out-build” the rest of the world, the current structure of the American education system, designed to support a 19th-century agrarian/manufacturing-based economy, needs systemic reform to educate young Americans with the strong quantitative and communicative skills needed in the 21st century.

A Chinese proverb says, “If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people.” The seminal message of The U.S. Technology Skills Gap is one of hope presenting scores of great examples of companies and individuals working together to reinvent America for another 100 years of prosperity by growing people.

Praise for The U.S. Technology Skills Gap

“The U.S. Technology Skills Gap is a compelling ‘call to action’ to address the decline of one of the most basic building blocks for the future of our economy: world-class math and science skills. Gary Beach explains why solving this problem must be America’s highest national priority.”
—Tony Scott, Chief Information Officer, Microsoft Corporation

“Beach’s book is a badly needed, data-driven wake-up call, challenging educators, politicians, parents, and voters to a national debate aimed at rescuing much of American education from its still-rising tide of mediocrity. The book’s high-spirited style invites a reader who may not agree with a specific proposal to get serious and develop a practical, evidence-based alternative. For above all, the status quo is no longer acceptable.”
—Dr. Gerald Holton, member of 1983 National Commission on Excellence in Education and principal writer, A Nation at Risk; Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics, Harvard University

“Gary Beach could not have taken on a more timely or important subject. Science and math education is the key to America’s future. Yet our approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and math has not changed as the stakes have. With keen insight, Beach explains how we got here, what changes we must make, and why this is a problem that every CEO and citizen should care about.”
—Wendy Kopp, Chief Executive Officer and founder, Teach for America

“The lack of science and math skills among our nation’s students is one of the greatest threats to American competitiveness. Gary Beach’s thorough examination of how the U.S. has reached this precarious point is a startling walk through history. The innovative efforts he highlights, and his recommendations to improve public education in America, should serve as guideposts to those with the passion and nerve to act.”
—Dr. Jim Goodnight, Chief Executive Officer, SAS

“A society is defined by its product development and manufacturing ingenuity built on a foundation of math and science knowledge. Given our record over the last number of years, are the best days of the U.S. behind us? Not if Gary Beach and The U.S. Technology Skills Gap can help it!”
—Ralph Szygenda, former Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, General Motors Corporation

“This book is a sober reminder of the crisis our country faces in producing a 21st-century workforce that will enable America to continue to lead the world. It also clearly points out that while government-backed education is a large part of the problem, it is unlikely to be part of the solution any time soon. The crisis is being addressed initially by those who most critically need well-educated workers—the employers of this country. Their grass-roots efforts and experimentation are providing bright spots that can influence and hopefully change the system in time to make a difference.”
—Paul Otellini, member of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness; former President and Chief Executive Officer, Intel Corporation

GARY J. BEACH,in his role as publisher emeritus for IDG’s CIO magazine, is a highly regarded spokesperson throughout the United States and global technology industry. He has appeared often on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street program and, for four years, aired technology commentaries on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition programs.