Workshop: Sustaining Competitiveness through Lifelong Learning

在21世纪的全球知识经济中，我们目睹了科学和工程领域知识创造的步伐不断加快。这种指数增长正逐渐缩短理工科学位的“半衰期”。发达经济体和发展中经济体都在寻找新的方法来提高和维持其劳动力的技术能力和准备。美国对高等教育（从本科到博士后）进行了大量投资。但一旦进入劳动力市场，让自己保持领先地位的机会就会大大减少。尽管政策圈普遍认为美国需要为在职专业人士提供终身学习的机会，但尚未对这一主题进行深入研究。没有系统的、正在进行的或最近的努力来促进对终身学习作为科学和工程专业文化的一部分的观念和作用的认识和理解。关于这一主题的最后一次重点研究是在1985年美国国家科学院关于“继续教育”的报告中。从那时起，教育和工作环境发生了巨大的变化，现在经常被描述为一个“平坦的世界”，一个国家的繁荣能力取决于其劳动力的质量。2006年斯佩林斯委员会关于高等教育未来的报告呼吁“制定一项终身学习的国家战略，旨在使我们的公民和我们的国家走在知识革命的前沿。”提议的研讨会旨在解决评估当前终身学习实践的迫切需要，并了解标准与电子商务工作专业人员未满足的需求。它将综合从2009年的一项研究中收集到的关于终身学习的信息。它将为政策制定者提出建议，从而形成一个工程师终身学习的国家框架。

In the global knowledge economy of the 21st century we are witnessing an ever increasing pace of knowledge creation in the sciences and engineering. This exponential growth is gradually reducing the "half-life" of science and engineering (S&E) degrees. The developed and developing world economies alike are seeking out new ways to increase and sustain technical competencies and preparedness of their workforce. The U.S. makes substantial investments in higher education (undergraduate through postdoctoral levels). But once in the workforce, opportunities that are available for keeping oneself at the leading edge of S&E developments decline significantly. Despite widespread agreement in policy circles for the need for the U.S. to invest in lifelong learning opportunities for working professionals, an in-depth study on the topic has not been conducted. There are no systematic ongoing or recent efforts that would advance knowledge and understanding of the perceptions and role of lifelong learning as part of the culture in science and engineering professions. The last focused study on the topic was reported in the 1985 National Academies report on "continuing education". Since then dramatic changes have occurred in the education and workplace environments, now often characterized as a "flat world" in which nations ability to thrive depends on the quality of their workforces. The 2006 Spellings Commission report on the future of higher education calls for the "development of a national strategy for lifelong learning designed to keep our citizens and our nation at the forefront of the knowledge revolution." The proposed workshop is addressing the urgent need to assess current practices in lifelong learning and understand the unmet needs of the S&E working professional. It will synthesize information about lifelong learning gathered from a 2009 study. It will develop recommendations for policy-makers leading to a national framework for lifelong learning of engineers.