STEM Jobs See Uneven Progress in Increasing Gender, Racial and Ethnic Diversity
The higher education pipeline suggests a long path is ahead for increasing diversity, especially in fields like computing and engineering.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The higher education pipeline suggests a long path is ahead for increasing diversity, especially in fields like computing and engineering.
About nine-in-ten (88%) Americans say, overall, the benefits of childhood vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella outweigh the risks, identical to the share who said this before the coronavirus outbreak. U.S. adults are less confident in COVID-19 vaccines: Fewer than half rate them as having high health benefits and a low risk of side effects.
Large majorities value government investments in science and consider it important for the United States to be a world leader in scientific achievement, but few think the country is gaining ground globally.
There is significant discomfort among Americans with the idea of AI being used in their own health care. Yet many see promise for AI to help issues of bias in medical care.
Increasing representation in science is seen as important for attracting more Hispanic people to science.
Trust in scientists and medical scientists has fallen below pre-pandemic levels, with 29% of U.S. adults saying they have a great deal of confidence in medical scientists to act in the best interests of the public. This is down from 40% in November 2020 and 35% in January 2019, before COVID-19 emerged. Other prominent groups – including the military, police officers and public school principals – have also seen their ratings decline.
Black Americans hold multifaceted views when it comes to trust in medical research scientists: Majorities hold largely positive views of their competence, but express concern about the potential for misconduct.
As the Earth’s temperature continues to rise, climate change remains a lower priority for some Americans, and a subset of the public rejects that it’s happening at all. To better understand the perspectives of those who see less urgency to address climate change, the Center conducted a series of in-depth interviews designed to provide deeper insight into the motivations and views of those most skeptical about climate change.
Americans offer a lackluster evaluation of how the country has balanced priorities during the coronavirus outbreak. Fewer than half say the country has given the right amount of priority to the needs of K-12 students, public health or quality of life.
Large shares of Americans support the U.S. taking steps to address global climate change and prioritize renewable energy development in the country. Still, fewer than half are ready to phase out fossil fuels completely and 59% oppose ending the production of gas-powered cars.
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